When we take our children to the hospital, we expect them to receive the best possible care. We believe their pain will be seen and addressed. We hope they come home feeling better. All too often, the area that is meant to heal them ends up causing damage.
Research has shown that pain in children is more than a symptom. It’s a safety problem. When a child’s pain is ignored or inadequately treated, it can lead to measurable, preventable harm.
No one understands the extent of the damage better than Jill Lawson, whose premature baby underwent open-heart surgery without the use of anesthetics. Baby Jeffrey was paralyzed by Pavulon and could not cry. He was fully awake and conscious when doctors cut open his neck, back and chest, separated his ribs and tied off an artery close to his heart. The procedure took ninety minutes. Jeffrey died five weeks later.
This gruesome example is not medieval history. It took place in 1985 at a world-class American children’s hospital. Many of us born around that time are now parents ourselves. And while progress has been made, not enough is being done to protect our children from unsafe care experiences that lead to lifelong damage.
We now know that untreated or poorly managed pain can cause delayed healing, increased pain sensitivity, neurodevelopmental problems, trauma, health care avoidance, and chronic pain syndromes. Pain in childhood is directly linked to depression, anxiety, suicidality and harmful substance use. But despite the evidence, children’s pain is still largely ignored.
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