Media Review

Movies: Medicine Under the Influence

During pregnancy, Steve and I briefly discussed what we would do if there was any indication that our baby would be born with genetic problems. His very easily delivered answer of, "We are not having a child like that" makes a lot of sense, but I always felt that it belied the emotional complexity of the situation.

We just finished watching the National Film Board's Medicine Under the Influence about four children of varying age, from a few months to 11 years, who were all born prematurely, as early as 24 weeks. Suddenly, the correctness of Steve's assertions became very clear. Seeing a newborn at this small a size is shocking, and watching what they have to do to such a tiny creature to resuscitate her is inhumane.

The DVD case calls the subject of the documentary "taboo" and describes it as "the tragic effects of life-sustaining medical treatment on infants." The story of the children, parents and therapists all support the idea that once these babies lives are saved "at all cost" they are soon forgotten and left to their cocoon of family for survival. One doctor reports that it costs $250,000 in hospital fees to save each of these babies, but that resources and funds for their care once they are out of the delivery room are nearly non-existent. Overworked doctors, understaffed therapists, unending lists of specialists for the child to spend a life seeing, and truly burnt out parents make a strong case against the logic and ethics of "science's little 'miracles'." These parents have realized that the quality of life that their child has is not worth the anguish the entire family goes through on a daily basis. One mother knew from the first days that her baby should not be alive, that what they were doing to him should not be continuing, but she said that the hospital staff kept repeating the ideas that she is so lucky and that the baby is really doing well that it was almost brainwashing. Her own instinct and reaction, fresh because she had not been in the situation before, to stop what was happening was ignored by the medical staff who have been trained (and expected by society) to save these babies.

While Steve's commitment to not having a child with such severe problems always made me hesitate and try to think about the situation, seeing this film made the reality obvious and hard hitting. Two sets if the parents featured said, in barely veiled language, that if they knew what was coming, they would have asked to not save their not-ready-for-this-world baby. As callous as it can sound to hear that "things happen for a reason," this film helps prove the truth of this aphorism and shows that the difficult choice in a situation can be the right one.

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