Be Not Afraid (BNA)
Many (Arch) Dioceses throughout the country have either formed or are beginning to form Be Not Afraid Ministries. Likewise in 2010, the Diocese of Richmond, after learning that more than 100,000 expectant couples each year receive the devastating news of a so-called poor prenatal diagnosis (PPD) began the process of forming a peer-support ministry to address the needs of the parents receiving a PPD. The PPD may be the detection of a heart defect, spina bifida or a genetic syndrome condition such as Down Syndrome. Whatever the specifics, shocked and brokenhearted parents have lost the pregnancy they have anticipated and the care for the baby that they expected. With little or no information or resources available that support the option of carrying to term, 80% of these pregnancies end in abortion, and yet, when families receive peer support, 80% of mothers carry to term.
BNA is one of the five initiatives of the Disability Advisory Commission. If you wish to learn more about this ministry and/or become involved, please contact Nita at ngrignol@richmonddiocese.org or 804-622-5260 or Christin West, BNA Coordinator.
This ministry is based at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Virginia Beach, and Christin West is the volunteer Ministry Coordinator. You may contact her at saintagnes333@gmail.com or 757-749-1704.
Be Not Afraid ENews
Be Not Afraid
Richmond ENews Spring 2012
Be Not Afraid
Richmond ENews Winter 2012
Listen to a story of a mother's experience in carrying to term her baby with a PPD. Valerie Jones is a Peer Support Coordinator for BNA - Richmond.
Poor Prenatal Diagnosis Resources
Research suggests that
women who terminate for fetal anomalies experience grief as intense
as that of parents experiencing a spontaneous death of a baby
(Zeanah 1993)
and that aborting a baby with
birth defects can be a traumatic event . . .which entails the risk
of severe and complicated grieving.” (Kersting 2004)
Be Not Afraid
-
Charlotte
Termination is not a
shortcut through grief.
In contrast, parental responses to perinatal hospice are
“overwhelmingly positive”
(Cahoun & Hoeldtke 2000)
Be Not Afraid
-
Charlotte
Parents report being
emotionally and spiritually prepared for their infant’s death and
feeling “a sense of gratitude and peace surrounding the brief life
of their child”
(Sumner 2001)
www.perinatalhospice
Be Not Afraid
-
Charlotte
When presented with the
option [carrying to term], more than 80% of parents chose a
comprehensive program of perinatal hospice over abortion.
(M. D’Almedi et
al., Perinatal Hospice:
Family-Centered Care of the Fetus with a Lethal Condition, 11 J.
AMER. PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS 52, 2006; b,\.c. Calhoun & N. Hoeldtke,
The Perinatal Hospice:
Ploughing the Field of Natal Sorrow, 2005)
Be Not Afraid
-
Charlotte
Be Not Afraid
-
Charlotte
(BNA)
is a network of concerned
parents and professionals who have experienced or worked closely
with issues surrounding a variety surrounding a variety of prenatal
diagnoses.
http://www.benotafraid.net/nc.asp
Benotafraid.net is an online
outreach to parents who have received a poor or difficult prenatal
diagnosis. See the stories of women who have received a Poor
Prenatal Diagnosis.
www.BeNotAfraid.net
http://catholicherald.com/stories/The-greatest-little-miracle,18218?content...
Flashes of Color in the Age of Perfection
- 11 minute trailer for a 90 minute documentary that shows the
threats to the lives of people with disabilities.
Go to this website to view.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDF4fme44x8&feature=player_embedded#!
“A
Life Like Yours”
(this young lady with Down Syndrome shares what
her life is like)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op2PygEu5Fk
Down syndrome Patients Could Unlock Secrets of
Aging USA Today article
www:\disabilities\documents\Down
Syndrome Patients Could Unlock Secrets of Aging.doc
Living with an endangered species http://www.zenit.org/rssenglish-33610
Will America Cull People
with Down syndrome?
USAToday
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/story/2011-11-14/blood-test-down-syndrome/51202078/1
What God Says About Me!
Jenny the Jewel, a girl with Down
syndrome
https://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/devotions/JennyTheJewel.aspx
Down syndrome Births in
Denmark May Disappear by 2030.
http://str.typepad.com/weblog/2011/08/denmark-sets-eugenics-goal-for-2030.html
Ethics and Medics - An important addition has been made to our Prenatal Diagnosis Webinar Toolkit: An article by Monica Rafie and Tracy Winsor from Ethics & Medics, A Commentary of the National Catholic Bioethics Center on Health Care and the Life Sciences. Click here to view the link.
