British Study Says Premature Babies Feel Pain

jimmyjack · Apr 5, 2006

British Study Says Premature Babies Feel Pain

By Gudrun Schultz

LONDON, Great Britain, April 5, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Another study has found that premature babies feel pain as intensely, or even more intensely, than we do.

A research team from University College London analyzed brain scans of premature infants taken when blood samples were being drawn using a heel lance, reported BBC News yesterday. They found records of a surge of blood and oxygen to the babies’ brains during the procedure, showing conclusively that the pain registered in the sensory levels of the brain.

“We have shown for the first time that the information about pain reaches the brain in premature babies,” said lead researcher Professor Maria Fitzgerald, a specialist in developmental neurobiology at the Thomas Lewis Pain Research Centre at UCL

“Beforehand, although we could assume it, we did not know for sure that these babies could feel pain.”

Moderator's Warning:

jimmyjack, I've edited this to provide a direct link to the article you have posted (the title is now linked to the article), and have also taken out much of the article, as this was a violation of forum rules.

9. Copyrighted Material - All material posted from copyrighted material MUST contain a link to the original work.
Please do not post entire articles. Proper format is to paraphrase the contents of an article and/or post relevant excerpts and then link to the rest. Best bet is to always reference the original source.
Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 107 http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html

-Stace

FallingPianos · Apr 5, 2006

jimmyjack said:
From:http://www.lifesite.net/

British Study Says Premature Babies Feel Pain

By Gudrun Schultz

LONDON, Great Britain, April 5, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Another study has found that premature babies feel pain as intensely, or even more intensely, than we do.

A research team from University College London analyzed brain scans of premature infants taken when blood samples were being drawn using a heel lance, reported BBC News yesterday. They found records of a surge of blood and oxygen to the babies’ brains during the procedure, showing conclusively that the pain registered in the sensory levels of the brain.

“We have shown for the first time that the information about pain reaches the brain in premature babies,” said lead researcher Professor Maria Fitzgerald, a specialist in developmental neurobiology at the Thomas Lewis Pain Research Centre at UCL

“Beforehand, although we could assume it, we did not know for sure that these babies could feel pain.”

Dr. Paul Ranalli, professor of neurology at the University of Toronto, said last year in reference to the pain felt by premature babies, “The only difference between a child in the womb at this stage, or one born and cared for in an incubator, is how they receive oxygen—either through the umbilical cord or through the lungs. There is no difference in their nervous systems.”

Professor Fitzgerald conducted research in 1998 into the intensity of pain levels experienced by premature babies. She found that babies in the womb are more sensitive to pain than adults and older children.

“The premature baby cannot benefit from the natural pain-killing system which in adults dampens down pain messages as they enter the central nervous system,” she said at the time.

Although previous research indicated that premature babies are capable of showing measurable signs of pain and distress, it was possible to dismiss the indications as bodily reflex reactions, not an experience of true pain.

Fitzgerald’s research team says the findings in this latest study are clear, and there is a potential for the intensity of the pain experience to affect later brain development.

Numerous studies have emerged over the past year that suggest premature or unborn babies feel intense pain, among them a U.S. study which used ultrasound videos to show unborn children as young as 28 weeks crying in the womb.

The emergence of these reports has led to efforts to create “pain legislation,” in an attempt to lessen the agony of abortion for the unborn child who is brutally killed.

New Study Finds Babies Cry in the Womb – "Even the Bottom Lip Quivers"
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/aug/05082606.html

yup. fortunatly, most abortions are performed long before viability. the ability to feel pain and viability come in at around the same time.

jimmyjack · Apr 5, 2006

star2589 said:
yup. fortunatly, most abortions are performed long before viability. the ability to feel pain and viability come in at around the same time.

So if I neutralize your pain threshold, can I kill you?

FallingPianos · Apr 5, 2006

jimmyjack said:
So if I neutralize your pain threshold, can I kill you?

nope.

what does that have to do with premature babies?

jimmyjack · Apr 5, 2006

star2589 said:
nope.

Then don’t use it as an excuse to kill those that aren’t born.

FallingPianos · Apr 5, 2006

jimmyjack said:
Then don’t use it as an excuse to kill those that aren’t born.

I dont. though I will correct someone who makes a false claim about when a fetus can feel pain.

steen · Apr 6, 2006

Ranalli is also the loon who claims that the thalamus can proses and "feel" sensation. but interestingly, lifesitenews is known as flat-out liars, the National Enquirer of the pro-life movement, and also interestingly "forgot" to actually reference the study, or even to state what age fetus they were talking about. 2 weeks preemie, perhaps?

jimmyjack · Apr 6, 2006

star2589 said:
I dont. though I will correct someone who makes a false claim about when a fetus can feel pain.

But we have just established that they do.

FallingPianos · Apr 6, 2006

jimmyjack said:
But we have just established that they do.

only the ones that are viable.

jimmyjack · Apr 6, 2006

star2589 said:
only the ones that are viable.

They are still foetuses.

FallingPianos · Apr 6, 2006

jimmyjack said:
They are still foetuses.

yes. but that does not mean that all fetuses can feel pain. if someone makes that claim, I will correct them.

shuamort · Apr 6, 2006

This is an irrelevant point. Just because something can/can't feel pain doesn't mean it's the basis of it should have life or not. CIPA (congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis) is a rare disease that renders a person unable to feel pain for instance. Should that affect whether that person lives or not? No. Neither does whether a fetus feels pain or not. This point is moot.

jimmyjack · Apr 6, 2006

star2589 said:
yes. but that does not mean that all fetuses can feel pain. if someone makes that claim, I will correct them.

Who has made this claim?

jimmyjack · Apr 6, 2006

shuamort said:
This is an irrelevant point. Just because something can/can't feel pain doesn't mean it's the basis of it should have life or not. CIPA (congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis) is a rare disease that renders a person unable to feel pain for instance. Should that affect whether that person lives or not? No. Neither does whether a fetus feels pain or not. This point is moot.

I have already made that point.

shuamort · Apr 6, 2006

jimmyjack said:
But we have just established that they do.

No, you've established that one report claims that they do. I've got another that says it doesn't:

The review, published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association found that the brain's neurological pathways which allow for the conscious perception of pain do not function until after the 28th week of pregnancy.

shuamort · Apr 6, 2006

jimmyjack said:
I have already made that point.

Please show me where as I'm not seeing it in this thread.

jimmyjack · Apr 6, 2006

shuamort said:
Please show me where as I'm not seeing it in this thread.

Comment #3

FallingPianos · Apr 6, 2006

jimmyjack said:
Who has made this claim?

well, on this post you quoted a a website that said that fetuses can feel pain from 9 weeks. 9 weeks marks the beginning of the fetal period.

jimmyjack quoting website said:
At nine weeks, the unborn baby is able to feel pain

jimmyjack quoting website said:
By the time the baby is eleven weeks old, he or she breaths (fluid), swallows, digests, sleeps, dreams, wakes, tastes, hears, and feels pain.

this was from the "scientific view" part of the post.

shuamort · Apr 6, 2006

jimmyjack said:
Comment #3

Close, but not exactly what i said.

jimmyjack · Apr 6, 2006

star2589 said:
well, on this post you quoted a a website that said that fetuses can feel pain from 9 weeks. 9 weeks marks the beginning of the fetal period.

this was from the "scientific view" part of the post.

I see, you are correcting the scientists?

jimmyjack · Apr 6, 2006

shuamort said:
Close, but not exactly what i said.

I guess I could say the same about my thread you locked.

FallingPianos · Apr 6, 2006

jimmyjack said:
I see, you are correcting the scientists?

no scientist or peer reviewed journal was cited for making that statement in the article.

jimmyjack · Apr 6, 2006

star2589 said:
no scientist or peer reviewed journal was cited for making that statement in the article.

"...A research team from University College London analyzed brain scans of premature infants taken when blood samples were being drawn using a heel lance, reported BBC News yesterday. They found records of a surge of blood and oxygen to the babies’ brains during the procedure, showing conclusively that the pain registered in the sensory levels of the brain...."

People that analyse brains from a prestigious university surely warrant the description of “scientists”.

FallingPianos · Apr 6, 2006

jimmyjack said:
"...A research team from University College London analyzed brain scans of premature infants taken when blood samples were being drawn using a heel lance, reported BBC News yesterday. They found records of a surge of blood and oxygen to the babies’ brains during the procedure, showing conclusively that the pain registered in the sensory levels of the brain...."

People that analyse brains from a prestigious university surely warrant the description of “scientists”.

see post two:

star2589 said:
yup. fortunatly, most abortions are performed long before viability. the ability to feel pain and viability come in at around the same time.

the ability to feel pain at viability, does not contradict the fact that a 9 week old fetus cannot feel pain.

jimmyjack · Apr 6, 2006

star2589 said:
see post two:

the ability to feel pain at viability, does not contradict the fact that a 9 week old fetus cannot feel pain.

Why did you bother commenting?

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