Baptism for Miscarriages

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eldulle

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Can someone tell me how the Church baptizes the unborn in case of a miscarriage? Any info would be greatly appreciated.
 
Without doing it.

Only a living human being can be baptized.
 
bpbasilphx said:
Without doing it.

Only a living human being can be baptized.
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Ahh, methinks you need to reread the OP and consult a dictionary. ‘Unborn’ is not at all the same thing as not living, of course - which is why abortion is a sin, no? 😉 And ‘in case of’ is not the same thing as ‘in the event of’.

OP could be talking about baptising a living babe in utero as a precaution should a miscarriage happen later in the pregnancy.

But of course baptism can only be performed on a living child, and moreover I think only on a child that HAS been born. I’ve never heard anyone claim that a baby can be baptised in utero.

At the very least the crown of the child’s head would have to be accessible to the priest or other minister to pour or sprinkle water on it, if I understand correctly.
 
eldulle said:
Can someone tell me how the Church baptizes the unborn in case of a miscarriage? Any info would be greatly appreciated.
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It can’t be done unless there is surgery of some kind before birth.We leave the state of the souls of the unborn to the mercy of God and we bring our babies to baptism ASAP after they are born.
 
**†JMJTJ †

You mentioned ‘unborn in case of a miscarriage’; only babies alive at birth can be baptised.

You could recommend the ‘Healing of the Sick’ for the mother as a blessing, and if the baby is miscarried, they may BLESS the child at birth or at a service if there is a burial.

Such was the case for our daughter who delivered a stillborn baby at 5 months gestation.
I held our ‘angel’ Tristan, and blessed him, commending his soul to the Lord; then at his graveside funeral service, Father blessed him with the usual ritual.

It is my personal belief (right or wrong) that all stillborn babies go straight to God, to join the choirs of angels.

My prayers go out to all parents and grandparents who bear this special cross.

God bless you †**
 
**Ahh, methinks you need to reread the OP and consult a dictionary. ‘Unborn’ is not at all the same thing as not living, of course - which is why abortion is a sin, no? And ‘in case of’ is not the same thing as ‘in the event of’.

OP could be talking about baptising a living babe in utero as a precaution should a miscarriage happen later in the pregnancy.**

That isn’t what I understood the OP to say.
 
Since we are not sure when the soul leaves the body, one should take the body of the miscarried infant immediately and pour a small amount of water, making sure it touches the skin, saying “If you are alive, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
 
Here’s what the Codex Iuris Canonici (1983) says about it:

“Can. 871 — Fetus abortivi, si vivant, quatenus fieri potest, baptizentur.”

that is:

“Can. 871 Aborted foetuses, if they are alive, are to be baptised, in so far as this is possible.”
 
I feel if the church doesn’t treat a miscarriage (even in the last months) as a real baby with baptism, then no one else will believe it is worthy of saving. I’ve seen women in the past miscarry, have still-borns and not have a buriel…how absurd. They were told hte baby had to take a breath before it died. Well then the “babies” killed at 4 months gestation aren’t “real” either. I think it’s very silly and respect should be given to the mother and child. If a baby is born alive and dies seconds later, still no baptism or blessing or funeral? If so, if a baby was alive and died during birth, it should be treated the same way. It seems to be treated differently by different priests but the ones who do a service are few and far between because there isn’t a doctrine for it.
This was on EWTN’ site a few months ago.:

Judi, I was once pro-choice and one of the things that strenghtened my convictions was that no matter how much the church said you weren’t to abort a baby from your body, they didn’t think of it that way themselves. I witnessed a mom coming home from the hospital after losing 8 month old twins and had to deliver them dead (they strangled) They came home alone…like they never existed. I’ve seen that at all stages of development, hey are not given a thought at 3 months, even when they are old enough to exist on their own if possible but died before birth. When Janet from “Priests for Life” was given this question, she said it was changing but mainly skirted the issue to me. I believe abortion is wrong but until the church as a whole treats the embryo/fetus like it exists, you will never have others respect it either. In another ballpartk so to speak, I see that with the eucharist also. Just my two cents…I’m came to see the evil by other means, but this always is something I can’t explain well.
Answer by Judie Brown on 07-23-2008:
Dear Debra
I am heartsick over the mother who came home after losing her eight month twins! What in the world has our world come to?

The missing link with parents who miscarry is a compassionate medical staff coupled with priests who are truly in touch with the dignity of the human person.

When my daughter and her husband miscarried their eight week old baby, the doctor was standing by to baptize the baby and he made sure that the remains were given to them for a proper burial. This is so very important, including the Mass of the Angels which is said for these innocents.

I disagree with Janet. The change is NOT occurring and we need to make that happen. Talk with your pastor, talk with your doctor, expressing clearly and without hesitation that the child who is miscarried is a human being whose remains must be treated with dignity and respect! The death of a child before birth is the death of a loved member of the family … priests don’t get it and we have to teach them.
 
DixitDominus said:
Since we are not sure when the soul leaves the body, one should take the body of the miscarried infant immediately and pour a small amount of water, making sure it touches the skin, saying “If you are alive, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
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There is no Baptismal formual with “If you are alive…”, it is simply “I Baptise you…” God takes care of the rest. You don’t even have to wait or try to determine if the child is alive or not, simply do it.
 
I guess they no longer teach kids how to baptize in case of emergency in school and CCD any more. DixitDominus has the canons for what needs to be done, and good old Br. Rich has the formula.

Now, all of you go to the lavatory sink and practice on a tiny baby doll. 😉 Really. This is what we did in second grade way back when.

PS: The term “aborted” also means miscarriage, which is too often labeled a spontaneous abortion by the medical profession.
 
OutinChgoburbs said:
PS: The term “aborted” also means miscarriage, which is too often labeled a spontaneous abortion by the medical profession.
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Because “spontaneous abortion” is the appropriate medical term. There are spontaneous abortions, so called ‘therapeutic’ abortions, criminal abortions, etc. A pregnant woman who is admitted to hospital with vaginal bleeding is said to be a pt. with a ‘threatened abortion’. Even Canon Law refers to abortion, not miscarriage (which is a lay term).
 
Phemie said:
Because “spontaneous abortion” is the appropriate medical term. There are spontaneous abortions, so called ‘therapeutic’ abortions, criminal abortions, etc. A pregnant woman who is admitted to hospital with vaginal bleeding is said to be a pt. with a ‘threatened abortion’. Even Canon Law refers to abortion, not miscarriage (which is a lay term).
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But not everybody understands that. I’ve talked with women who’ve assumed because they had a miscarriage, they had an abortion and were very defensive about it, how could God expect them not to have an abortion then “give” them one…I know, I know…
 
I had a friend who had to deliver a baby that had died in utero. The priest would not baptize the baby, but did bless it, and the couple baptized her themselves. I think it just made them feel better to do it.

Of course I wonder now, since they have done away with Limbo, what the attitude will be. It used to be that you baptized your babies ASAP, to ensure they would go to heaven should anything happen to them. Now I guess they go to heaven anyway, which is (I feel) only appropriate, but I wonder how it will affect people’s attitude toward baptism.
 
debraran said:
I feel if the church doesn’t treat a miscarriage (even in the last months) as a real baby with baptism, then no one else will believe it is worthy of saving.
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Why do you think the Church does not treat a miscarriage as a “real baby”? It does.

Canon 871 applies. Baptism can be don on any living person. If there is doubt, baptism should be performed.

The Church cannot do the impossible-- baptize someon who is no longer living.
debraran said:
I’ve seen women in the past miscarry, have still-borns and not have a buriel…how absurd. They were told hte baby had to take a breath before it died.
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I don’t know who “told” them this. That is not a teaching of the Church. People “hear” lots of things from “someone” that aren’t true.
debraran said:
Well then the “babies” killed at 4 months gestation aren’t “real” either. I think it’s very silly and respect should be given to the mother and child. If a baby is born alive and dies seconds later, still no baptism or blessing or funeral? If so, if a baby was alive and died during birth, it should be treated the same way.
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This question has already been answered-- baptism is performed as an emergency just in case the baby is still alive and/or the soul is still present. The doctor or nurse should do it immediately.
debraran said:
It seems to be treated differently by different priests but the ones who do a service are few and far between because there isn’t a doctrine for it.
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I don’t know what you are talking about. Miscarried children are of course given funerals and burials all the time.
 
1ke said:
I don’t know what you are talking about. Miscarried children are of course given funerals and burials all the time.
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Not all parents opt for burial of aborted (miscarried) babies. I miscarried twice. Once at 8 weeks, once at 12 weeks. It never occurred to me to have the remains buried. Now a still born baby would have been different, but I grew up in a time when a miscarriage was treated almost as something to be ashamed of – I was in my late teens before my mother told me she’d had a miscarriage in between the birth of my two brothers, it wasn’t ever a topic of discussion and that’s how she treated my two miscarriages.
 
lada said:
I had a friend who had to deliver a baby that had died in utero. The priest would not baptize the baby, but did bless it, and the couple baptized her themselves. I think it just made them feel better to do it.

Of course I wonder now, since they have done away with Limbo, what the attitude will be. It used to be that you baptized your babies ASAP, to ensure they would go to heaven should anything happen to them. Now I guess they go to heaven anyway, which is (I feel) only appropriate, but I wonder how it will affect people’s attitude toward baptism.
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They haven’t “done away” with Limbo, it’s still a possibility that can be held by Catholics.

" It used to be that you baptized your babies ASAP, to ensure they would go to heaven should anything happen to them."

The Catholic Church still requires that parents still plan the Baptism of their expected child even before the child is born.

“Now I guess they go to heaven anyway, which is (I feel) only appropriate, but I wonder how it will affect people’s attitude toward baptism.”

No, the correct answer is we don’t know what happens to them, but we can hope that God MIGHT have a way to save them.

The problem with many people not fully understanding the position of the Church is that many more infants may die without Baptism, because parents don’t feel the need to Baptise them right away. The protestant idea that they are in God’s care, (Baptism is not necessary, there is no effect of Original Sin on an infant.)
 
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