Carlo Bellieni
In the current debate on prematurity, we discuss whether to revive the little babies and it is said that those who apply for this instead wants to resuscitate the fetus. Meanwhile, let's be clear that at the time of birth, you must use the term baby, and certainly no one thinks to resuscitate a baby who is not mature enough to survive, but we need to clarify something about the innate fear of the term "fetus." Unfortunately it seems that calling the newborn baby is placed on a "being" estraneo, perché associamo la parola feto con qualcosa di confuso e “altro”.
“Feto” è una parola fragile. La usiamo per convenzione, ma proviamo a riflettere su tre punti e molte cose si chiariranno:
1) Lo chiamiamo feto un minuto prima del parto e bambino un minuto dopo. Cosa è cambiato? Sul piano fisico quasi nulla. E’ arrivata la luce agli occhi ed è entrata l’aria nei polmoni. Si è chiuso (e non sempre) un canale tra aorta e arteria polmonare e poco più. Non sono cambiamenti sostanziali: anche prima di nascere il bambino si succhiava il pollice, poteva sentire il dolore, aveva memoria, sentiva le voci, gli/le batteva il cuore. Su questo si può trovare extensive scientific documentation. Of course now comes the oxygen from the air and not from the umbilical cord ... but they are structural differences, not of substance.
2) But where does the word "fetus"? In reality, the distinction between "fetus" (before birth) and "child" (after childbirth) is recent. The term "fetus" is derived from an Indo-European root meaning "suck" and the word "fetus" in Roman times meant "fruit" or "offspring" (Catullus indicated as "dulces musarum fetus" the sons of the muses, that the poems ). In short, the Romans had a term for the unborn child ... because they realized it was a "puer" in Roman times the unborn child could inherit and the law of Jersey established the right of the child to be born also by operating (hence the term "cesarean delivery") if the mother was dying. This consciousness of the continuity of life continued over time and is clear also from the famous drawings by Leonardo da Vinci showing the prenatal child, and illustrate the unmistakable humanity, involving the word "cherub", or "baby".
Yet at some point in history, there was this break, which has a weight that goes far beyond the scope "friendly": someone has used a term that until then had been a synonym for "son" ("fetus", in fact) to indicate that something in his mind, his son is not yet. The terms "child", "adolescent", "elder", "adult" describes the development stages of someone who we all recognize as a "person", whereas the term "fetus" is used to denote a lower level of rights. Underlines this depersonalization of the period that the term "fetus" has a corresponding female form is a "neutral", and as such has no sexual characterization that is the main characteristic of the person.
3) Besides, even the term "embryo" would see the same injustice repaired, since more than one word is a kind of adjective that means "that flourishes in" (en-brỳein), whose subject, of course is the "child", and has the same origin of the word "spirit", which expresses, as we all know "life and exuberance" more than "human project" or "right of parents".
Why do we use for a term prenatal child diverted from its original meaning? Perhaps because we all use stigmatizing terms to describe someone who is not of us. " It 's a phenomenon dell'antilinguaggio-often-unconscious, as Orwell called it: a child is a child, but if you call the fetus ...
leave the fetus to term memories of the last century! It may perhaps serve in some nostalgic discussion, but must return to our language to use the right terms. We leave our sight and our brains begin to agree on the evidence and call the children for what they are ... just children, even if they are small, hidden in the womb, sometimes sick: science does not do this? And we learn to discuss how to treat them - before and after birth - on how to rescue and advance scientific research in their exclusive interest, instead of spending time debating whether to fail our obligation to assist anyone. The children and their families will thank us.
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