Can unborn babies be baptized?

[CatholicSam]

If we believe that life starts at conception, why do we wait for birth before baptizing children? Would the amniotic fluid be able to be used to baptize a baby who was in danger of miscarriage, followed by a traditional conditional baptism after birth?

[Michelle Arnold]

Originally Posted by CatholicSam

If we believe that life starts at conception, why do we wait for birth before baptizing children?

Because the minister of baptism must be able to sprinkle, pour, or immerse the baby in water for the baptism to be valid.

Originally Posted by CatholicSam

Would the amniotic fluid be able to be used to baptize a baby who was in danger of miscarriage, followed by a traditional conditional baptism after birth?

No. A baptism is a physical act that bestows supernatural grace; someone cannot baptize by mere intention alone. That means that the minister of baptism must sprinkle, pour, or immerse the baby in water, which cannot be done with amniotic fluid (even if we suppose that amniotic fluid is valid matter for the baptism).

The search to stretch the means by which baptism can validly be bestowed was more understandable in a time when the common opinion of theologians was that unborn babies could not go to heaven without baptism. Now that the Church better understands that God is not bound by the sacraments and that he can bestow outside of the sacraments sanctifying grace to those who are innocently incapable of receiving it in any other way, there is no need to try and stretch how baptism may validly be conferred. All that is necessary is that parents do all that they can to have their children baptized within the first few weeks after birth.

Parents are obliged to see that their infants are baptized within the first few weeks. As soon as possible after the birth, indeed even before it, they are to approach the parish priest to ask for the sacrament for their child, and to be themselves duly prepared for it (canon 867 §1, Code of Canon Law).

As regards children who have died without baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus' tenderness toward children which caused him to say: "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them," allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without baptism. All the more urgent is the Church's call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy baptism (CCC 1261).