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January 6, 2005
Tsunami 'miracle' woman pregnant
Topics: Southeast Asia Earthquake and TsunamiMore miracles from the tsunami front. But I couldn't help noticing that in the article the Indonesian vice consul is said to have commented that the foetus was alive and healthy. I thought she was pregnant with a child, or a baby. I wonder if the doctors told the mother, "your foetus (fetus) is doing fine." The standard comment is that one's child or baby is doing fine, except of course with liberal journalists and politicians. What mother-to-be doesn't cherish being able to say, "I'm pregnant and my baby's doing great." Have you ever heard a proud mother-to-be, especially under such miraculous circumstances, say - I'm pregnant and my fetus is doing just fine thank you?" On the other hand, perhaps I might be acting a little unfair toward journalists since I also notice that the photo caption (taken by a photo-journalist) refers to an unborn baby, not a fetus.
BBC News/Asia-Pacific Jan 6:
An Indonesian woman who was discovered last week after surviving for five days in the Indian Ocean is pregnant, doctors have announced.
Malawati, in her early 20s, knew she was expecting a child but had not told her rescuers because she assumed she would have lost it in her ordeal.
(Click image to enlarge - Malawati did not expect her unborn baby to survive)
"I'm very glad, very happy," she said on hearing the news, from her hospital bed in Penang, northern Malaysia.
However, her husband - who was swept out to sea with her - is still missing.
Doctors were stunned to discover, on giving Malawati medical checks following her rescue, that she was 18 weeks pregnant.
The foetus was alive and healthy, said Helena Tuanakotta, the Indonesian vice consul in Penang.
Malawati has also been giving more details of her five days at sea.
"I almost drowned twice as I could not swim and was thrashing in the water trying to keep my head up when I chanced upon the tree truck," she told The Star Online.
She survived by eating the fruit and bark of the sago palm she clung to.
"I slipped twice but managed to hold on," she was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency. "I saw sharks around me but prayed they wouldn't hurt me."
Malawati said she was looking forward to going home to Indonesia's Aceh province, but Ms Tuanakotta said the coconut farmer would probably stay in Malaysia until some of her relatives in Aceh are found.
On Wednesday, another Indonesian survivor of the tsunami arrived in Malaysia. Rizal Shahputra, 23, spent nine days at sea clinging to floating driftwood before being picked up by a passing container ship. BBC News/Asia-Pacific...
Posted by Hyscience at January 6, 2005 12:32 PM
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- Tsunami 'miracle' woman pregnant - Jan 06, 2005
