Support for pregnant women whose child is not expected to survive

I refer to the article ‘I was a walking grave’ (August 8) regarding mothers who perceive they need an abortion.

At Mater Dei Hospital, services for pregnant mothers (and indeed families) whose child is not expected to survive have changed in the last 15 years. Parents are offered a lot of psychological support, even by a psychologist if necessary.

Deliveries are planned during regular meetings held by the multidisciplinary team which includes obstetricians, paediatricians, midwives and nurses.  Visiting consultants are also involved if their expertise in intrautero echo cardiography is needed so that diagnosis is as accurate as possible. 

The parents are consulted afterwards when options available are discussed with them, including the option to allow a normal delivery unless it is perceived as detrimental to the mother’s health. The child is therefore born through a normal delivery and nature is allowed to take its course from then onwards.

Many babies who have cardiac problems survive a normal delivery as their challenge is mainly surviving independently of their mother’s circulation.

There are paediatricians who specialise in palliative care for babies, a nurse dedicated to support the child during end of life and a bereavement midwife. 

Although one fully empathises with families who have to suffer through a pregnancy knowing that chances are that their child will not live long, one needs to consider that the unborn child experiences the love of the mother and can hear the voices of other members of the family. 

A child who has a short life out of the womb still has that security and comfort while in the womb and it is only the mother who can give that.  There will surely be sorrow and disappointment but there may also be the comfort that,  throughout their short life in utero and outside, that child only knows love.

With regards to a third caesarean section, there are many mothers who have been through a third one safely and successfully, so there is hope for persons who need to have a delivery by caesarean section.

Although I am not a midwife by profession, being a nurse for the last 35 years has brought me in contact with many mothers, some of whom experienced miraculous survival of their children, even though the situation seemed bleak during pregnancy. 

I am sure that many midwives can attest to similar experiences. So, maybe, it is worth giving the child all the chances to live.

Catherine Sharples – Lecturer, Mater Dei Hospital, Msida

Maltese icon of lateral thinking

He was the father of the modern philosophy of thought. He is now considered a universal icon and the leading authority in the field of creative thinking, innovation and the direct teaching of thinking as a skill. The late Edward de Bono really did Malta proud. He was, and will always remain, internationally acclaimed. 

De Bono revolutionised human thinking to include lateral thinking, parallel thinking and perceptual thinking – that is applicable to everyone from four-year-olds in school to the top executives of a firm, to the people governing our country. While we have made tremendous progress in science and technology, we have made virtually no progress in human affairs because our method of thinking is simply not design-based. Mankind is operating well below full thinking capacity, even in this day and age.

I think that the best way we can and should remember de Bono is to always be guided by one fundamental principle that clearly emerges from his lateral thinking concept, namely that intelligence is something we are born with. Thinking is a skill that must be learned.

Should the authorities ever consider putting up a monument or memorial in a prominent place on our islands, perhaps that principle enshrined in those words could be placed at the bottom of such a monument  or memorial.

Mark Said – Msida 

Thank you from Albania

I would like to thank the Mission Fund for their generous donation of €4,000 to help poor families on the outskirts of Tirana and in several villages within the territory of our archdiocese.

These are mostly families coming from mountain villages who turn to us for help, including medical care (to buy medicines or undergo an operation) and educational support (mainly to buy textbooks and to pay school fees).

We are also still helping families who, in the earthquake of November 2019, lost everything and had to restart from scratch refurnishing their house.

Moreover, many workers in this archdiocese have been discharged from work due to the COVID-19 crisis. Most affected were those employed in hotels, restaurants and those in the tourism sector, since this archdiocese includes the two main and largest cities: Tirana and Durrës.

We are helping many families who are suffering from the consequences of the pandemic.

I take this opportunity to appeal to the readers to help the Mission Fund in its wonderful work by sending used stamps and donations.

Donations can be made online or by direct bank transfer to one of the following accounts: BOV: IBAN No.: MT70VALL220130000000 16300798022; APS:  IBAN No.: MT67APSB77079005231820000 820762; BNF:  IBAN No.: MT94BNIF1450200000000087963101; Lombard: IBAN No.: MT65LBMA05000000000001440822115.

More information may be accessed from the website www.missionfund.org.mt.

George Frendo O.P. – Archbishop of Tirana-Durres, Albania

Grand Harbour ‘regeneration’

The government recently announced that the Grand Harbour is to be “regenerated”. The works are to be carried out by different ministries and private entities. The intention is the construction of a new breakwater arm and dredging works.

The Grand Harbour has provided shelter since time immemorial except when the north easterly wind (the gregale) was blowing. When this happened, it was probably safer for any vessels to be in the open sea.

And herein lies the reason for my writing: Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs and the Knights of St John were all exposed to this danger. Who knows how many ships with their cargoes foundered in port in any one of these grigalati? What were they carrying: precious metals, armaments, amphorae, WWII vessels?

Different ministries and private entities will carry out these works, possibly working independently of each other. Will there be one entity overseeing the works?

This is a project with major historical and archaeological significance. At the moment, we are in the process of studying a Phoenician wreck. I believe the Grand Harbour would yield even greater and more important remains. I doubt if any port exists with richer possibilities. 

The Grand Harbour seabed is practically virgin ground and this should attract international interest using state of the art instruments to locate any important remains.

I appeal to the authorities not to begin dredging and disturbing the seabed before appropriate studies are conducted.

Anthony Paul Azzopardi – San Ġwann

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