Can a human fetus feel pain? If so, at what point can it start to feel pain? What is the fetus’ reaction to painful stimuli?
Some people say one way, some people say the other. It’s not really settled and should make for a good discussion, if not a Great Debate.
Here are some opinions from a variety of experts:
isn’t there some evidence that they don’t develop nerve ending until a certain point in the gestation period? or am i pulling that out of my ass?
my guess is there is a certain point at which they do.
Certainly that’s true, but that point is very early on (often before a woman even realizes that she’s pregnant). But then you have the question, does the presence of nerve endings alone necessarily imply the ability to feel pain?
I would think that the presence of nerves - and a brain, since the nerves must go somewhere - means that pain can be felt, even if just at an animalistic level. No cite off hand, though… anyone?
I remember some educational program about 20 years ago (The Body Human ?)
where they inserted an endoscope into the uterus with a developing fetus in the second trimester.
The fetus, in response to the light shining in its face, brought its hands up and feebly tried to block the light from shining through its thin eyelids.
From this one could say that a fetus of a certain development can certainly experience and respond to stimuli.
Is it possible to anaesthetise a fetus?
Yes, by anaesthetising the mother. Since the two are still sharing blood and fluids, what happens to one happens to the other - think of “crack babies”.
I went to a Catholic high school, and during one of the religion classes in Junior or Senior year, they showed us a video which featured ultrasound taken during an abortion. It was quite disturbing; the fetus was reacting to the presence of the vacuum cleaner-thing, and it appeared to be trying to swim away from it. It knew that something was wrong :eek:
This is not true. Contrary to current popular belief, not all drugs pass through to the baby’s system. The baby’s blood supply never comes in contact with the mother’s blood supply - they are two separate systems kept separate by the placenta and distinct arteries and vein in the unbilical cord. SOME drugs can pass from one set of blood vessels to the others. These, which include alcohol and many street drugs, can indeed create effects in the baby much like those experienced by the mother. Other drugs do not, and cause little or no effect in the baby. Many anaesthetics fall into this camp. Most of the anasthetics given during labor are chosen because they have little or no effect on the baby, including epidurals.
While it may be that one could find a particular anaesthetic that has an anaesthetic effect on the fetus when the mother takes it, it’s not accurate to say that the two are sharing blood or to imply that every substance the mother imbibes has the same effect on the fetus.
Click here for more about anaesthetics during pregnancy.