Infants Show Marks of Consciousness
Consciousness most likely
extends to the unborn,
adding to the horror of abortion
by Jerry Bergman, PhD
One of the central concerns about the propriety of abortion is the question, “When can the baby feel pain?” Often ignored, but possibly more important, is the question of when a child in the womb is conscious. Even if they cannot feel pain, being conscious may cause them to experience psychological pain. The Scriptures indicate that the unborn have a conscious mind when still in the womb. The clearest example is Jeremiah 1:5 which says: “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born, I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” And Isaiah 44:24 adds, “I am God, your Redeemer, who shaped your life in your mother’s womb: I am God.” Both these scriptures imply that an unborn child has a personality, which implies they are conscious at some time when in the mother’ womb.
Historically, this view is far from what was commonly believed in the medical community. New Scientist magazine contributor David Robson observed that, at one time, surgeons operated on babies without any anesthetic because it was assumed that they could not feel significant pain, or even discomfort. And this practice was common, he states, until recently.[1] When Tim Revell, executive editor of New Scientist, read this, he was shocked. In a newsletter from New Scientist, Revell said,
Occasionally you read a fact that is so shocking it makes you gasp; it happened to me this week. In a fantastic feature about when we first experience consciousness, long-standing New Scientist contributor David Robson writes that surgeons used to operate on babies without any anaesthetic because we simply assumed they couldn’t feel discomfort. History is full of ghastly practices and so perhaps it’s unsurprising that this used to occur. However, what made me sharply inhale was that this was common until as recently as the 1980s! Today, as David’s feature explores, researchers are building a detailed (and better) understanding of what babies can experience thanks to brain scans. The findings from these scans are truly amazing, forcing a rethink of how early in our lives we first become conscious – it could be incredibly early indeed.
What is Consciousness?
The first concern is to define what is meant by being “conscious.” Much disagreement exists, but the most succinct definition of consciousness is ‘the mental state of being aware of one’s physical/environmental surroundings, including one’s emotional feelings.’ The perception of one’s environment includes sounds, sights, temperature, and one’s internal body state, such as a perception of comfort, easiness, worry or lack thereof. [2]
Are Unborn Children Conscious?
A scientific question bearing on the ethics of abortion is, “Are unborn children conscious?” Researching infants in the womb is currently not feasible but could be done on children born prematurely. For premature children, often the main focus has to be on saving the baby, or at least ensuring normal healthy development. Furthermore, the brain’s development may be at the consciousness level, but body maturity may not be at a level that is sufficient to display their brain development.
It is well-established that the nervous system develops very early in the fetus, so researchers would logically expect that consciousness also begins to develop weeks or even months before birth. Many researchers do not want this question answered because it could have major repercussions for the multi-billion-dollar abortion industry. Nonetheless, some researchers believe that scientists should answer the important question of when consciousness develops.
New Technology Forces Rethinking How Early Infants Become Conscious
Robson, in his article, admits that the question of when conscious awareness appears during fetal development remains unresolved, but points out that new techniques are promising to answer this important question.[3] Thanks to new brain scan improvements, researchers are building a more detailed, and much better understanding, of the level of awareness that babies experience. Their findings are forcing doctors to rethink how early in infancy we humans became conscious.[4]
Problems in Doing Memory Research With Children
Robson tells that his first memory is of his family packing to move when he was three years old. Even today he can picture the moving van with his brother in the front seat. He also remembers worrying about how his pet rabbit would fare on the journey.[5] There’s a problem with very early memories. What Robson remembers may not be the actual event that occurred when he was three; he may have remembered this event that occurred when he was three years old when he was five. That is, what he remembers now may be the memory he recalled at age five, which he then assumes was the memory at age three. The earliest thing I remember (also when I was about age three) was when I wanted to go outside at night. My mother told me the bogeyman might get me, as I was standing leaning against my mother while she was sitting in a chair.
Another problem in trying to establish the onset of consciousness is that a baby may be conscious during the birth process, but may not remember the actual event. Nonetheless, according to many psychological theories, trauma during the birth process may have a profound effect later in life. As evidence of this, Cheryl Back refers to evidence that birth trauma can increase the risk for developmental delays or mental health disorders causing anxiety. The fact that one may not remember the event does not negate the fact that this traumatic event could have a profound effect much later in life.[6]
Many contemporary psychologists believe it is not necessary for a child to be conscious of a trauma for it to have an adverse psychological effect. Long-term studies of birth trauma support the belief that it can have a major psychological effect on the child later in life. One blog article says,
Birth trauma refers to both physical injuries and psychological stress that occur during or after the birthing process. This can happen to babies who experience difficulties during delivery, such as oxygen deprivation, blood clots, or injuries caused by instruments like forceps. Traumatic births can also stem from prolonged labor, emergency C-sections, or premature births where the baby is not fully developed… trauma isn’t limited to physical damage; babies can be psychologically impacted by a difficult birthing experience. … The birth process can leave lasting marks on both their physical and emotional health, which may manifest later in life.[7]
Furthermore, certain medical interventions during birth can also have long-term, detrimental effects on the child, both physical and psychological.[8]
Monash University (Australia) professor Tim Bayne and his colleagues suggest a practical approach to settle the debate.[9] They point to research identifying four patterns of brain activity and behavior associated with conscious awareness in adults. Taken together, these four factors produce strong evidence that the person is conscious. Identifying the same markers in babies provides evidence that they also possess the core of consciousness.
The first consciousness marker that Bayne and his colleagues considered concerns the ways that different brain regions temporarily link up into working networks. Brain scans reveal that, when at rest and daydreaming, the default mode network (DMN) takes over. If something captures our attention, the executive control network (ECN), a set of brain areas responsible for goal-oriented thinking, comes online in combination with the dorsal attention network (DAN). People who are asleep and dreaming, which is a conscious state, show this ebb and flow of activity between the DMN and the ECN and DAN.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is an MRI scan that shows which areas of the brain are most active by detecting changes in blood flow. Comparing that activity to what the subject was doing at the time produces a “map” of brain activity. Brain sections that are more active produce more blood flow because brain cells use more oxygen when working. Following the blood flow shows that the brain areas that are the most active appear brighter on an fMRI scan.
Measuring brain activity in babies by fMRI scanners in the past required the subject to sit very still because wriggling and movement degrades the image quality. Improved algorithms allow scientists to correct for the baby’s motion, resulting in a much better view of their brain activity.
In 2022, Trinity College at Dublin (Ireland) professor Lorine Naci and her colleagues analyzed brain images of more than 280 full-term newborns as they slept in an fMRI scanner, finding evidence of DMN, DAN, and ECN – and the reciprocal activity between them. This was also true of preterm babies once they had reached the equivalent age of full term baby’s. This suggests that the typical fetus may develop consciousness in the last stage of pregnancy. In fact, even 35-week-old fetuses do seem to respond to certain tests. Although consciousness arises before birth, the fetus might be sedated by the protective amniotic fluid that inhibits neural activity without necessarily eliminating conscious awareness.
Conclusions
The medical evidence points to the conclusion that very young babies do indeed have conscious awareness even while still in the mother’s womb. This finding, if confirmed by ongoing research in this area, could have a significant effect on laws regulating the time and procedural details regarding when and how abortions should be performed in states where they have been legalized. Aside from the question of when consciousness begins, both science and the Bible confirm that life begins at conception. Abortion, therefore, is murder except possibly in the exceptional cases when the mother’s life is at risk. The historical fact that painful surgeries on babies were performed as recently as the 1980s without anesthesia should shock every one of us.
References
[1] Revell, T. 2025 Feb 15. New Scientist Editor’s Highlights. [Emphasis added.]
[2] Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consciousness, 2014.
[3] Robson, David, “How studying babies’ minds is prompting us to rethink consciousness,” New Scientist, https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg26535300-800-how-studying-babies-minds-is-prompting-us-to-rethink-consciousness/, 11 February 2025.
[4] Robson, 2025.
[5] Robson, 2025.
[6] Back, Cheryl, Traumatic Childbirth. Routledge, New York, NY, 2013.
[7] Ogbuchi, A., “How can birth trauma affect a child’s development?,” https://hellolunajoy.com/blog/how-can-birth-trauma-affect-a-childs-development, 2025.
[8] Emerson, W.R., “Birth trauma: The psychological effects of obstetrical interventions,” Journal of Prenatal & Perinatal Psychology & Health 13(1):11-44, Fall 1998.
[9] Emerson, 1998.
Dr. Jerry Bergman has taught biology, genetics, chemistry, biochemistry, anthropology, geology, and microbiology for over 40 years at several colleges and universities including Bowling Green State University, Medical College of Ohio where he was a research associate in experimental pathology, and The University of Toledo. He is a graduate of the Medical College of Ohio, Wayne State University in Detroit, the University of Toledo, and Bowling Green State University. He has over 1,900 publications in 14 languages and 40 books and monographs. His books and textbooks that include chapters that he authored are in over 1,800 college libraries in 27 countries. So far over 80,000 copies of the 60 books and monographs that he has authored or co-authored are in print. For more articles by Dr Bergman, see his Author Profile.