Preterm labor

Amelia the youngest surviving premature baby to date. She was born at 21 weeks. She is developmentally normal for her age. To date she is 2 1/2 years old.

Amelia's feet at birth.
She weighed 9 oz at birth.

On November 24th i started having contractions that were not to intense but very regular. (every four mins.) Due to the holiday commin up the dr's office told me to go to labor and delivery so my Doctor could check me out there. I laid there hooked to machines for a couple hours listening to a chick ABSOLUTELY screaming as she was having her first baby... yikes! They saw on the monitor that i was in fact contracting every four mins. So they gave me a shot a waited to see if they calmed down, and they did. At this point i am asking alot of questions to the nurse and the answers were terribly unpleasant. I was 21 weeks at that point. They said they would not give me meds to stop labor before 30 weeks, and that if i did go into labor they just let nature take its course. She said "even if the baby is born with a heart beat we just let mom hold her till she passes" I thought this nurse was off her rocker... so i made a hasty appointment with my dr who confirmed what she had said. IS THERE ANYTHING MORE BARBARIC? The youngest baby to ever survive was 21 weeks. There are plenty of medications to stop labor even at 21 weeks. SOOOO i am in the market for a new hospital and a more aggressive doctor. I didn't get a diagnosis of pre-term labor yet due to the fact that i am not dilated, but as soon as that happens i need to be at a different hospital, nobody wants a liability. SO i am in need of advice... if you have any let me know.