Response to Our Ethical Quandary

On the Facebook Newborn Screening Awareness group, Brandi made a statement in her reply to our ethical quandary. She said, "a certain percent of false positives are a lot better than one child sufffering a crisis or losing their precious little life." I received a similar response from someone at Savebabies.org.

I have not been thinking of the sacraficial aspect in our situation. If Sarah doesn't have CPT II, then our experience was caused by what level is used to identify babies that are at-risk. If the levels were not set so cautiously, a baby that really has CPT II may not be flagged by the NBS and something bad may happen. In order for many to be saved, a few may sacrifice. (I said "many" because the Expanded Newborn Screening can screen for 50 different genetic disorders. CPT II is very rare.)

The amount of suffering that the NBS prevents outweighs the stress and suffering caused by false positives and maybe/maybe-nots like us. When I'm having my moments of sadness for Sarah and frustration, the sacrifice-for-the-good-of-all-mindset will help me cope.

Sarah Ate Avocado

Avocado is supposed to be a good fat for baby brain development. I haven't been giving Sarah avocado because I know it is basically all fat. The dietician said that Sarah can have 27g of total fat a day.

According to NutritionData.com, a 1 ounce (28g) serving of avocado contains 4g of total fat. I let Sarah eat avocado and I didn't feel guilty about it :~).