Most parents and doctors wouldn’t even consider inducing labor early unless it were absolutely medically necessary. But, one mother decided that giving birth early was important to another member of the family. Namely, her daughter who was dying from a brain tumor.

In October of 2011, Paula Holmes was joyfully expecting her second child. Everything was going as planned, until one day the mother noticed her first born daughter, Katy, who was normally a very jubilant kid, didn’t react when she won an award at school.

Her face showed no emotion and, according to Paula, “my mother’s instinct sent alarm bells ringing, and I knew there was something seriously wrong.”

Katy, at the young age of 10, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. As Katy’s little sister continued to grow in her mother’s womb, so did her illness. The girls’ parents began to worry that the two sisters would never meet.

So, the family made a difficult decision and, with the blessing of their doctor, induced labor three weeks before Paula’s due date. Scarlett Holmes was delivered without complications and finally got to meet her older sister. Paula said the two have formed a special bond. “All we have to do is put Scarlett in her arms and she starts smiling,” she said.

Katy is still fighting for her life. Every time it seems she has come to the end of her battle, she pulls through and lives to hold her baby sister another day.

What do you think? Are there ever cases where inducing labor early is okay?

[via The Stir]

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