Medical Malpractice

2000 years ago, the baby Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem. When seen from a medical perspective, this blessed event appears quite differently. Let's examine it with so-called "modern" thinking.

Consider the big risk our Heavenly Father took when he sent his son to us the way he did. First of all, the Virgin Mary was much too young to bear such an important child. No tests were performed to see if she was capable of carrying a child full term. Also, Mary was not adequately prepared. She attended no birthing classes, did not practice her breathing, nor did she read up on the birth process.

It should also be noted that some safety procedures were ignored during this pregnancy. I mean, no blood tests were done, no obstetric examinations, no ultra sound, or even the listening and monitoring of the child's heartbeat. Surely for such an important baby, an amniocentesis should have been done! The mother wasn't even prescribed the proper regime of vitamins for her nutrition. When you think about it, we're taking a major risk here.

Just think about the terrible conditions for the birth itself. Certainly that stable was not sterile. With all the animals in the same room, it's a wonder there wasn't a major infection. Not even simple clean sheets or surgical masks for the 3 Wise Men were used. I'm quite sure that Mary was not on the proper delivery table with her feet in the stirrups. If that's not bad enough, common medical practice was also lacking from this point on. Certainly an important woman like Mary should have been given some pain relievers or a spinal block to help ease her discomfort. Of course an episiotomy would have been called for to help out. I'll bet that a set of head clamps weren't available in case of need. There wasn't even a fetal monitor available should an emergency cesarean be required. This whole situation sounds like a nightmare.

It gets worse. No sterile surgical instruments to cut the cord, no silver nitrate for the baby's eyes, no fetal intensive care unit, alcohol rub, temperature control cubicle or suction of the child's nose or throat. None of the safety precautions our modern medical system deems necessary were carried out.

The more I think about it, I'm convinced this entire procedure was a menace to the mother and child. In a case like this, someone should be liable for malpractice. With things as they were, I'll bet the baby jesus never even got his required vaccinations!

If it were up to modern medicine, this birth would have been handled very differently. God sure took a big chance...or maybe we need to rethink the things we think are necessary and stop interfering with normal God-given miracles.