Premature Babies: How Joe Scarborough's Situation is Similar to Mine

You may have heard of Joe Scarborough, the host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and former host of the same networks "Morning Joe" program who is also a former Florida Congressman (R). Currently He and his wife of seven years are expecting a child and dealing with what several sources are calling "complications" and a "difficult pregnancy." Currently they are facing having to deliver prematurely.

When I first read of what the Scarborough family is going through my heart went out to them. You see, my son was born on the 21^st of December of 1992, unfortunately he was not due until the beginning of March so he was two and a half months premature.

I was in the Army and stationed in Germany at the time and he was born in a German hospital since the Army would not allow my wife into an Army medical center. Apparently the families of mere infantry sergeants did not qualify for actual US medical care so the ambulance carrying my wife bypassed two US Army hospitals to take her to a German one when she went into premature labor.

Immediately after birth he was flown, by the German Red Cross, to another German Hospital to a Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit where he spent the first three months of his life, almost all of it in an incubator. Driving to and from this hospital, located far from where we were stationed, every day was a challenge. Our son was so small and we could not even hold him.

My wife went into severe depression during this time. Since then I have researched this and found this to be normal, any husband whose wife has delivered prematurely needs to watch for it. The mother will tend to blame herself for the child's situation. This is especially so if there is a prolonged period of hospitalization. It is sort of like "post-partum" on steroids.

After three months were finally able to bring our son home but the German doctors insisted that he be on a respiratory monitor. I was supposed to obtain one from the Army medical system but their response was that it was, "not cost effective." I offered to pay for it out of my own pocket if they would just let me have access to one but was still told no. An Army doctor, who never examined my son, sneered at what the German doctors had said and told me that there was "no need" for any such device.

On July the 29^th my son died of respiratory distress. His medical record disappeared before he was pronounced dead, fortunately I had a nasty habit of keeping photo copies, and my wife was accused of murdering him, despite the pathologists' insistence that he had not been "murdered." It took me three months to get her out of the country and only then when I did so in open violation of the local chain of commands authority. Friends in my church had to hide our daughter to keep her safe until I could get her back to the States.

My advice to anyone who has a premature child is to listen carefully to what the doctors tell you to do as to care for the child. Then do it! Follow it to the letter and if the people controlling the money, such as your insurance company, try to tell you that it is, say, "not cost effective," beat them to a bloody pulp and then ask them, "how cost effective" was that? But that is just me, it is entirely possible that my viewpoint is somewhat skewed. You may have to deal with adverse legal ramifications if you follow my advice but, then again, your child may still be alive.

Fortunately for the Scarboroughs, great strides have been made in the medical world recently in the care of premature infants. A child born two or three months premature today has a much greater chance of survival than one born even ten years ago. Hopefully we shall continue with this trend to give these children the chance at life. I wish the Scarbroughs the best of luck and will keep them in my prayers.