The Admirable: We all known that teen pregnancy happens all over the United States and the world. One young mother though knew what to do in this situation. The 17-year-old girl woke up at 5:30 to shower and get ready for school when she felt herself getting contractions. She had kept the pregnancy secret from her parents so that she could continue to go to school, and she did not want to disturb her neighbors, so she did not call 911. Instead this brave girl delivered her child on the floor of the shower. She then wrapped the baby up and dressed herself before walking four blocks to the nearest hospital.

The girl didn’t want to face the rest of infection from cutting the umbilical cord herself, so she walked with both the umbilical cord and placenta attached. When she arrived at the hospital in Long Beach, California, nurses were stunned. The baby was healthy, but Xochitl Parra had risked bleeding by not calling for immediate help. Both mother and infant were taken care of in the hospital and are safe and sound. The baby, over eight pounds, is eating well, and his mother will return to school in a few weeks.

The Heartbreaking: A mother of 30 in Indiana never thought that her life could be changed so drastically in a few short minutes. Katherin Shuffield, a first time mom pregnant with twins, thought her life was turning around. She had a decent new job, as a teller in a bank in Indianapolis, and she was five months pregnant, past the physical difficulties and miscarriage worries of the first trimester. Unfortunately for Katherin, a split second decision would change her life forever. On April 22, and man charged into the bank where Shuffield worked and shot her. The man than preceded to rob the bank, completely ignoring the pleas of Shuffield and her coworkers. The ordeal caused Shuffield to lose her twin daughters, one stillborn and the other live born, and left her with a horrible infection from the bullet wound.

Shuffield and her husband recently spoke at a press conference and told others about the story, brining up two issues in the minds of police and lawmakers. The branch where Shuffield worked had be robbed three times since March 2007, showing that security in banks must be increased if there is any hope of one day stopping tragedies like this from happening. The second issue is that of murder. Indiana law says that since the fetuses were only five months old, the perpetrator cannot be charged with murder, only feticide, a charge with only an eight year maximum sentence. The gunman has yet to be found.