Testimony of Healing February 4, 1985 Issue

Shortly after our daughter's birth, the delivering...

HELEN GIFFORD GODFREY with contributions from PAMELA E. HAGEN

Shortly after our daughter's birth, the delivering doctor came to my husband and me and said that because of the infant's unusual skin color, a blood test had been given her. The test showed a dangerous imbalance in the blood cells, and the doctor said he had called a specialist, who was on the way to the hospital to give the baby a 100 percent blood transfusion in an effort to save her life.

This doctor knew we were Christian Scientists. He said that this drastic step had been taken without our consent because there had been a rash of infant deaths in the area. The city health commissioner had issued orders for all doctors to be alert to a particular condition in babies. Upon detecting this condition, doctors were to follow certain outlined medical procedures. The doctor stated kindly but firmly that the situation was out of our hands—that if we protested, the hospital would ask for a court order to ensure that our baby received the medical treatment they deemed necessary.

This report was given to us at seven thirty in the evening. Although bewilderment gripped us, we had enough wisdom to call a Christian Science practitioner and ask her to give us Christian Science treatment. We were aware of the passage in the textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, which states, following an explanation of what such prayerful treatment consists of (p. 412), "If the case is that of a young child or an infant, it needs to be met mainly through the parent's thought, silently or audibly on the aforesaid basis of Christian Science."

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Testimony of Healing

It is with deep gratitude and in the hope that others will be...