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The Rights Of Premature Babies

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Until recently, relatively little research had been carried out in the realm of children’s right to be heard within the healthcare setting. However, in addition to a growing interest in how babies participate in their social and learning relationships, the idea that children are rights bearers rather than objects of concern has been extremely influential . In their paper entitled, ‘The Participation Rights of Premature Babies’, Priscilla Alderson, Joanna Hawthorn and Margaret Killen (Alderson et al. 2005) challenge orthodox opinion that babies are not even persons, let alone bearers of rights (Singer and Kuhse 1985). They explore the perimeters of citizenship and children’s rights by questioning just how far premature babies are recognised …show more content…

They highlight that whilst it may be easy to see premature babies benefiting from provision rights to education, health care, welfare and amenities, right to protection from neglect, abuse, discrimination and violence, participation rights differ in that many are linked to adult civil rights and autonomy.

Subsequently, Alderson et al conducted semi-structured tape-recorded interviews with 40 neonatal staff, and the parents of 80 babies in the units and in their homes. Within the realm of children’s rights, there is a mutual consensus that children have the right to be researched properly; especially the most young and vulnerable. Although this is not a specific provision of the UNCRC, it can arguably be derived from reading between the lines of Article 12 (the right to provide opinions), Article 13 (the right to freedom of expression), Article 36 (the right to protection from exploitation), and Article 3.3 (the right to the highest possible standards being used in work involving children). As such, the babies who had neuro-development issues, and whose parents consented to the study were selected via purposive sampling in order to involve babies with a variety of medical conditions and ethic and socio-economic backgrounds. Whilst this may not represent

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