Premature Infants

[murphyj87]

Why do 34% more babies born 10 or more weeks premature survive in Canada than survive in the United States?

Canadian health care is a major factor, and the Sandra Schmirler Foundation is another.

James Elgin Gill (born on 20 May 1987 in Ottawa, Canada) was the earliest premature baby in the world to survive. He was 128 days premature (21 weeks and 5 days gestation) and weighed 624 g. (1 pound 6 ounces) and is a healthy adult today.

Who was Sandra Schmirler?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM67XJS7yM8

Three-time Scott Tournament of Hearts (Canadian Women's) Champion and World Champion (1993, 1994, 1997) and the skip of Canada’s Olympic gold medalist curling team (1998)

Sandra was one of the few athletes who was able to maintain a balance between the passion she had for her athletic pursuits and the love she had for her family, husband Shannon and her two beautiful daughters, Sara and Jenna.

Sandra Marie Schmirler passed away on March 2nd, 2000 of Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma, at the age of 36.

What is the Sandra Schmirler Foundation?

The spirit of a champion: The Sandra Schmirler Foundation is a non-profit organization that collects donations and then funds projects and equipment at neonatal units in hospitals across Canada. It is a legacy to the three-time world curling champion and Olympic gold medallist, Sandra Schmirler.

The mission of the Sandra Schmirler Foundation: To raise and donate funds to hospitals across Canada for the care of premature and critically ill babies.

Bringing hope to families: By supporting the Sandra Schmirler Foundation, you are helping babies in crisis to grow and reach their potential because, ultimately, all champions start small.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6Ez4KoDXGY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxWZ5umEMEk

http://www.sandraschmirler.org

This is Canada's vision of itself and Canada's view of how the world, including the US, should be... (sung by then 15 year old Nikki Yanoffski)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP9IQuz-jlk

[WingDinger]

1. I am going to be horribly cynical for a moment. For every dollar we spend to make more babies less

harmed, we likely save ten.

I pray dear God, that libertarian philosophy accepts a better deal than all out class war.

In other words, pragmatism.

[murphyj87]

2. Yet Americans think....

Yet Americans think that the American insurance company bureaucrats who make the medical decisions for Americans would keep a brain dead child (like Baby Joseph) alive for as long as Canadian health care has, let alone and have him examined by 8 specialists in neurology and pediatric intensive care (some of whom are world renowned). Americans are quick to criticize Canadian health care, while American insurance company bureaucrats would never pay for things that Canadian health care does.

It should also be noted that most American physicians who want to practice in Canada (and there are a lot) have to study for an extra year or more to achieve the standards which Canadian physicians must have to practice in Canada.