When it was over, I took the mother by the hand for a walk across the adjoining empty field. As I walked north across the field I could see a beautiful blue sky, some trees below, a horizon in between. I thought back on the mistakes I made in life. For most of them there was a subsequent repair or remedy. For my life as a doctor, it was similar: someone brings me a problem, I develop a remedy. I was awed and humbled by how unchangeable and non-negotiable the outcome of death was.

I told my patient that this was a special and unique baby. His loss can never be replaced. No other baby would be or could be this baby. I was sorry that we shared the loss of this beautiful, incredible baby. Little David seemed to receive more love in a day than some babies receive in a lifetime.

I told her that my mother had two children who died. One died at the age of three and the other died at the age of five. I told her that as far as I could tell my mother thought about these two babies and remembered them each day of her life. Through the generosity of God, my father, and herself, she went on to have a total of eleven children. Thus, while no one will ever replace the baby that was lost, there is every reason to hope for the future and trust in God.

The outcome of this case illustrates that this method of pregnancy management is the treatment of choice. One would expect these parents to be devastated by this tragic turn of events and they were. Whenever I discussed the case with them, they always mentioned how hard and tragic the birth of their baby had been, but they never failed to mention what a wonderful, positive, warm and loving experience the explosion of love had been. In their minds, and everyone’s mind, the tragedy of the baby’s death was ever intimately wedded to and always inseparable from the explosion of love.

One might expect such parents would be hesitant to ever get pregnant again, or at least not any time soon, but they were trying within a couple of months. They were pregnant in a few more months and they delivered their second baby by the end of a year. This showed me that the method Little David taught me helped his parents to heal from their terrible, painful experience.

Little David taught me the proper management of a baby with a lethal birth defect is usually expectant (i.e. non-intervention). Little David taught me that there is a tremendous amount of good, which can come from such management. Little David showed me that every baby is created for a reason, and each has a special vocation. Little David demonstrated that even a baby, who never spoke, could preach a powerful spiritual message to doctors, hospital staff, mothers, and readers.

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