Fetal surgeons perform a laparotomy (an incision across the mother’s abdomen), the uterus is opened and the baby’s back is rotated into view. A pediatric neurosurgeon removes the MMC sac, if one is present, and closes skin over the defect to protect the spinal cord from exposure to the amniotic fluid. The uterus and the abdominal incision are then closed. A maternal-fetal medicine specialist performs sterile intraoperative ultrasound to map the position of the placenta and the fetus, and a fetal cardiologist uses echocardiography (ultrasound to assess the fetal heart) to examine fetal heart function during the surgery. These measures are used to ensure the utmost maternal and fetal safety. (“The Children’s Hospital of…
In 1988 there was an experiment done on a 52-year-old man with Parkinson’s disease. They implanted fetal brain cells in his brain. He reported an improvement in his ability to walk and speak. Fetal tissue use is just experimental now. There have been very few successful attempts on humans and the evidence…
Procedural discussion focuses on who has the authority to say what medical care the infant will receive. The potential decision makers are parents, physicians, ethics/infant care review committees, and state courts…
Allowing a 22 weeker to live for 2 weeks and then being found to not have brain damage, is a child who would otherwise have been left to die solely on the basis on their gestational age. Preemies believed to have been born at 22 weeks have statistical risks of multiple disabilities. However, many life long disabilities are not diagnosed until long after discharge. Major disabilities like blindness or cerebral palsy, are diagnosed in the first two years, school-age preemies run a risk of having behavior difficulties, ADHD or learning disabilities that cannot be diagnosed in early…
OB/GYN is another field where ultrasound technicians work. OB/GYN stands for obstetrics and gynecology which is where you view fetuses in the womb. The ultrasound can show size, weight, gender, or any problems involving the baby. The sonogram can also show or test problems involving small tumors, cysts, or any other diseases inside the uterus, vaginal canal, or cervix.…
Anencephaly is a brain defect that inhibits the complete formation of the brain and the skull during pregnancy. This disease has no cure and the life expectancy is very low since there is only function of vital organs like the heart and the lungs (provided by their brain stem) for only a limited time. Its causes are unknown but it is believed that it is caused by environmental and genetic factors, as well as the lack of intake of folic acid by the pregnant mothers. The shortage of organ donors today has come to raise the proposal of using anencephalic infants as organ sources in order to save the lives of children who may have the opportunity to live. Although, it has been debated through the years that using anencephalic infants as organ sources may not be an ethical or legal practice as demanded in the “dead donor” rule, it is still a very controversial issue on whether it is preferable to give a better quality of life to this infant or to provide the opportunity to live to another child.…
In this article, entitled “Fetal Tissue is Critical to Scientific Progress”, Alice Park implies, “Fetal tissue research is legal under specific circumstances and has contributed to the breakthrough in medical science.” According to Park, anti-abortion activists believe that using fetal tissue in medical research is ominous, and Planned Parenthood clinics may be profiting from it. However, there are lots of good reasons to use fetal tissue practice in medical science, such as creating lifesaving vaccines for polio, rubella, and chicken pox. Also, during the decades, using the fetal tissue practice has contributed to developing the stem-cell research well known as a possible treatment for degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s. To prove that…
The main ethical issue related to fetal tissue research is the concern of utilizing aborted fetuses for…
Since the mid 1980’s research as existed and has been continuing worldwide on the use of fetal tissue and brain disorders. The most prevalent research is that of Parkinson’s disease. An over view of this research consists of the following: Parkinson’s disease affects the part of the brain known as the substantia nigra. Those with Parkinson’s disease suffer from a deterioration of neurons that yield the neurotransmitter dopamine, which is vital…
While the majority of studies found no link between prenatal ultrasound exposure and ASD further research is still needed into the topic. Most of the studies discussed were performed in the late nineteen nineties with follow-ups on the children being done more recently. The output capabilities of ultrasound machines as well as medical guidelines for ultrasound use have changed since then. Ultrasound use should remain limited in pregnancy with only necessary scans being performed until this research has been completed. In addition to the research discussed another risk of ultrasound exposure is tissue heating which…
Many children are born with disabilities, and birth defects, every day. Pregnant women who drink, smoke, and use drugs are not only exposing themselves, but also their unborn fetus. The exposed unborn fetus is highly prone to lifelong, and irreversible, birth defects.…
One of the most important aspects of animal experimentation is that most of the research is unreliable. According to Aysha Akhtar form the Library of Medicine, “The inability to reproduce the disease in animals so that it is congruent in relevant respects with human stroke has contributed to a high failure rate in drug development. More than 114 potential therapies initially tested in animals failed in human trials” (Akhtar Flaws of Animal Experimentation). If people cannot reproduce the effects of a stroke in an animal, then it is very unlikely that they have come up with other cures for diseases. When there is a high failure rate in drug development, the lives of people are in danger and the lives of animals who were experimented on were…
Animal testing once again fails when it comes to the reliability of their results. Most people might think that animal tests are somehow certain. Perhaps if these tests were not that certain then labs would not perform them right? Well, that is exactly the problem. These experiments preformed on innocent animals might not have the same effect on human beings. A mouse it is not even close to having the same genes as a person, to begin with. As Leist and Hartung report, the results taken from an analysis which compared the genes of a mouse to 5,000 human beings’ genes, were extremely “shocking”. The results were tremendously deficient. In fact, in the areas where most animals’ are tested, the resemblance between men-mouse is almost inexistent…
Ever since I can remember I’ve wanted to grow up and be in the medical field, in high school I did a school research paper on what I wanted to be when I grew up. After weeks and weeks of research I finally found something that I found interesting, and worth doing for a living. My goal is to become an ultrasound technician. An ultrasound technician conducts sonograms to help physicians diagnose and screen medical conditions. Now, when most people say they want to be an ultrasound technician they automatically think they’re going to be giving sonograms of unborn babies; but in reality sonographers take sonograms of all your body’s organs. Some college courses offer 2 year associates programs and others can take up to four years to complete. In this paper I have done research on the different courses one pressuring this dream would have to take, where an…
A study that was done by the U.S. Department of Health and Human services (2011) stated that two to three of every 1,000 children in the United States are born deaf or hard-of-hearing, and more lose their hearing later during childhood. As a fetus develops in the mother’s uterus there are things that a mother needs to be concern about. The mother must take care of herself in order for her to take care of her growing baby. Mothers who do not secure their fetus in a safe environment are risking the chance of their child experiencing birth defects at birth. Every mother wants to give birth to a healthy child. It can be heartbreaking for a mother to find out that their child has been born with a birth defect such as a hearing problem or possibly having a deaf child. Music has a powerful effect to our emotions, and it can affect the way we think. Music can calm the baby but mothers should be aware of the possibilities of birth defects, such as, hard-hearing, deaf, and even death.…