Prenatal ultrasound has deeply changed the woman’s relationship with the fetus which is not only based on hearing. The visual portrayal prevails on the perception of the body and provokes a reality effect giving to the soon-to-be-born baby a status of autonomous existence: the laboratory knows everything even before the woman gets to know, included the sex of the fetus. All interviewees tell the strong emotions stimulated by the ultrasounds which average number may vary: three, according to the protocol, if pregnant women, as most of the migrant women do, use the medical services of the consulting rooms, or numerous ultrasounds if we consider the autochthonous women who turn to a private gynecologist. This opens up the debate on the relationship between private and public health, particularly relevant during pregnancy. Furthermore, through amniocentesis, the prenatal diagnosis consent to identify the integrity of the health of the fetus, leaving to the parents – and especially to the mother – the responsibility to choose whether to accept an ill or disabled child or to have an abortion. Doubts and agonizing conflicts arise in front of this decision, that not all the interviewed felt up to deal with.

La donna in attesa e il mistero del feto, "Voci. Annuale di Scienze umane"

FALTERI, Paola
2013

Abstract

Prenatal ultrasound has deeply changed the woman’s relationship with the fetus which is not only based on hearing. The visual portrayal prevails on the perception of the body and provokes a reality effect giving to the soon-to-be-born baby a status of autonomous existence: the laboratory knows everything even before the woman gets to know, included the sex of the fetus. All interviewees tell the strong emotions stimulated by the ultrasounds which average number may vary: three, according to the protocol, if pregnant women, as most of the migrant women do, use the medical services of the consulting rooms, or numerous ultrasounds if we consider the autochthonous women who turn to a private gynecologist. This opens up the debate on the relationship between private and public health, particularly relevant during pregnancy. Furthermore, through amniocentesis, the prenatal diagnosis consent to identify the integrity of the health of the fetus, leaving to the parents – and especially to the mother – the responsibility to choose whether to accept an ill or disabled child or to have an abortion. Doubts and agonizing conflicts arise in front of this decision, that not all the interviewed felt up to deal with.
2013
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11391/1210679
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