High Support for More Fetal Pain Research

NEWS PROVIDED BY
Pain Insights, Inc.
Oct. 25, 2023

FAIRFIELD, N.J., Oct. 25, 2023 /Christian Newswire/ --  Pain Insights, Inc. announces a comprehensive market research study conducted among a diverse sample of 1,147 sufferers of recurrent and chronic pain.

Further research into better understanding fetal pain has widespread support.

• 84% of individuals were "moderately-extremely" supportive of research to better understand fetal pain and potential longer-term ramifications of painful experiences.
   
• A greater percentage of Black and Hispanic respondents were "very-extremely" supportive of conducting additional research on fetal pain; approximately two-thirds of respondents in each group.

Furthermore, the current base of knowledge on recent research findings supporting fetal pain capability is low, so in addition to continued research, the publication of recent studies in consumer-oriented formats may also serve to shed new light on fetal pain for many people.

• The majority of respondents (~two-thirds) were "not at all/slightly" knowledgeable of recent medical publications pertaining to the development of the central nervous system and pain perception in the unborn.

Respondents were also presented with a legislation concept prohibiting any person performing or attempting to perform an abortion if it is determined that the unborn child is 12 weeks old or greater, except if a medical emergency arises that threaten the mother's life. And in that case, treatment to save the mother's life and every reasonable attempt to save the baby's life should be made.

• Almost twice as many respondents supported the base case description of legislation to protect unborn children capable of experiencing pain (43% support vs. 24% opposed) while 34% were undecided. And several avenues exist to further increase support. In fact, a minority of respondents could not support this type of legislation under any scenario.

Discussion:
Chronic pain and inadequate treatment can have dehumanizing effects not only on the person who experiences it, but also inflicts caregivers and others close to the pain sufferer; oppositely, an increased understanding of fetal pain may help to humanize the unborn child in the minds of some individuals neutral or opposed to pain capable legislation.

Just as pain management needs to be holistic and multimodal for the pain sufferer and family members, in the case of an unplanned pregnancy, care for the mother, the preborn child, the born child, and father needs to be multifactorial.

• Respondents favored expansion of pregnancy care center counseling, mentoring programs to support fathers and help families deal with the stress of an unplanned pregnancy, supplies/services for mothers deciding to have their babies, access to adoption services, and if needed, church-led crisis support programs for emotional and physical pain after an abortion.

And, although not directly asked in this pain survey, these results suggest that greater awareness and availability of these options could potentially support the life decision, whether pain is present or not, regardless of the gestational age of the unborn child, or circumstance that the mother may be facing.

Conclusion:
To the greatest extent possible, barriers to adequate pain control in children, adolescents, and adults and protecting the unborn child capable of feeling pain should be deconstructed.

Additional goals of the survey were:
To better understand the needs of patients with recurrent and chronic pain, explore needs in several potentially vulnerable patient populations, and to present information on potential pain-related initiatives. To provide context, numerous representative patient verbatims are included in the report as well as patient recommendations for better pain management.

About Pain Insights, Inc.
Pain Insights, Inc. is a full-service marketing research and strategic planning firm established in 2001, exclusively focused on pain management.

SOURCE Pain Insights, Inc.

CONTACT: 862-485-0219

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www.paininsights.com