They Are No
Strangers to Pain, Says Book
By Father John Flynn, LC
ROME, MAY
25, 2008 (Zenit.org).- A topic receiving more attention
recently in debates on abortion is the question as to whether a fetus can
suffer and feel pain. A book just published brings together a variety of
evidence by experts, mainly Italian, on the subject.
"Neonatal
Pain: Suffering, Pain and the Risk of Brain Damage in the Fetus and
Unborn" (Springer) is edited by Giuseppe Buonocore and Carlo Bellieni, who
are both members of the department of pediatrics, obstetrics and reproductive
medicine at the University of Siena.
The
contributions from the large number of experts who contribute to the book agree
in affirming that a fetus can feel pain before birth, the two editors explain
in their introductory essay. "Recognizing human dignity and human
suffering from life in the womb is a clinical duty in the service of better
treatment," they declare.
One of the
contributions, a joint effort by nine experts, looks at the evidence obtained
from ultrasound techniques. The introduction of three-dimensional and
four-dimensional ultrasonography has enabled a far more detailed evaluation of
the fetus, thus allowing the observation of how it reacts to specific stimuli,
they observe.
The uterus
is a protected, but not an isolated, environment and touch is the first sense
that the fetus develops. By week 10 of pregnancy an unborn child can be
observed bringing hands to its head, opening and closing the mouth, and swallowing.
As well,
recent experiments show that newborns have functional memory, development of
which began in the period before birth. The authors note that, in fact,
newborns remember tastes and odors perceived in the uterus and these
perceptions might have an influence on future preferences. Sounds, also, are
heard by the unborn, including the mother's voice. Newborns have even been
shown to recognize music that the mother listened to during pregnancy.
Another
joint article examines the specific question of fetal pain. The team of medical
experts who authored the piece starts by noting that the unborn child is a
protagonist, promoting cellular traffic with the mother, and so the fetus needs
to be considered a patient, whose well-being is taken into consideration by
doctors.
There is
evidence, they observe, that acute or chronic pain, or even prolonged stress,
can be dangerous for the fetus, especially if it happens during a critical
period of brain development. Possible negative effects range from a lower pain
threshold to an increase in age-related memory impairments.
Based on
experiments with primates, the article hypothesizes that fetal pain can even
impair the funct ioning of the body's immune system, with long-term
implications for infections and autoimmune diseases.
Regarding
stress, the authors cite a study on a group of mothers who suffered stress and
compared them to a control group. The babies of the stressed mothers were
characterized by a lower birth weight, smaller head circumference and a lower
gestational age at birth when compared with the babies of the control group.
The authors
observe that some medical experts don't consider the fetus can feel pain
because it is not conscious, and also because it is normally asleep in the
womb. The article on neonatal pain in Buonocore and Bellieni's book reply to
this by saying there is considerable scientific evidence showing that fetuses
are sensitive to a variety of sensation in the uterus: sound, changes in light,
touch and pressure, and changes in balance.
Moreover,
even if a fetus were not to recognize pain consciously as we do, it still
remains an unpleasant experience f or the unborn, they add.
Stress
effects
Another
chapter of the book looked at other effects of stress on the fetus. Two members
of the Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology at Imperial College
London, Kieran O'Donnell and Vivette Glover, explain that maternal stress is
very much related to the development of the fetus.
In
addition, in cases of medical intervention carried out on fetuses there is
evidence showing a response to an invasive stimulus from the age of 16 weeks
gestation. Even at the age of 12 weeks a fetus will move away if touched. Nevertheless,
O'Donnell and Glover admit that we still do not know exactly when the fetus
starts to feel pain or when it becomes conscious.
In a
concluding chapter, Marina Enrichi urges readers to value prenatal life. A
better knowledge about prenatal conditions and the development of the fetus
will bring with it a perception of fetal life as something precious, resulting
in greater respect for the develo ping embryo and the woman bearing it, she
argues.
One of the
consequences of this, Enrichi augurs, is that all of us and society itself will
begin to wish to create a more protective environment for the unborn baby and
the mother.
The Italian
medical experts are not the only ones convinced of the need to pay more
attention to the pain suffered by the unborn. On Feb. 10 the New York Times ran
a major feature article reporting on the findings of other doctors on this
topic.
The article
started by citing the experience of Kanwaljeet Anand, who while a medical
resident in a British hospital saw the significant harm caused to premature
babies when they were operated on without anesthetic. At the time, 25 years
ago, doctors thought the nervous systems of the babies were too underdeveloped
to sense pain.
Through
trials, Anand clearly showed this was not at all the case and that once the
babies received anesthesia the mortality rate dropped fr m 25% to 10%. Pain
relief for premature babies soon came to be standard, the article said. Anand
continued his observations in this area and noted that babies as young as 22
weeks of gestation demonstrated a reaction to pain even when pricked by a
needle.
The
consequence of this observation was the consideration that the fetus might feel
pain. This became an important question with the development of fetal surgery,
since whether the unborn feels pain is an important consideration for the
surgeon.
Anand, now
a professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and a
pediatrician at the Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock, told the New
York Times that he believes fetuses can feel pain by the 20th week of
pregnancy, and possibly even earlier.
The article
also cited Nicholas Fisk, a fetal-medicine specialist and director of the
University of Queensland Center for Clinical Research in Australia. Fisk has
carried out research showing that fetuses as young as 18 weeks react to an
invasive procedure with a spike in stress hormones and a shunting of blood flow
toward the brain. This is a reaction also present in infants and adults and is
designed to protect a vital organ from threat.
The New
York Times article acknowledged that the question of whether the fetus does
feel pain has obvious implications for the abortion debate. In fact, medical
evidence is showing they do feel pain, and as time goes by researchers are
pushing back more and more their estimation of the age at which the fetus is
affected by pain.
Admitting
that a fetus does feel pain, however, is difficult for abortion advocates, as
it is just one more bit of evidence proving how wrong they are about denying
the unborn a chance to live.
"Since
it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in
its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human
being," states No. 2274 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Recognizing
that a fetus can indeed feel pain is one step on the path to acknowledging it
is a person.