Carlo Bellieni, Pain Definitions Revised: Newborns Not Only Feel Pain, They Also Suffer.

Carlo Bellieni, Pain Definitions Revised: Newborns Not Only Feel Pain, They Also Suffer, 21 ETHICS GT MED. 5 (2005).

Newborns are immature preverbal beings. Neonatal pain is a controversial question. Until the 1980s it was uncommon to anaesthetize newborns undergoing surgery. Anand's studies, published in 1985, were a milestone in the recognition of the importance of analgesic treatment even in premature infants. Anand showed that newborns feel pain as much or even more than adults: the relative immaturity of their cerebral cortex, their not-yet-myelinated nerve fibers, and the absence of previous painful experience does not prevent them from feeling pain. He showed that newborns who undergo very painful procedures without analgesia have a high risk of brain damage: pain causes oxygen desaturation while increasing intra-cerebral pressure and blood pressure, which could lead to brain hemorrhage. Recognition and treatment of neonatal pain is still resisted.

Although pain and suffering are closely identified in the medical literature, they are phenominologically distinct. "Pain has a felt...