Pure Common Sense

Today we think of the different stages of pregnancy in terms of “trimesters” – periods of three months – three of which make up the total nine-month pregnancy.  It is second nature now when discussing the topic of pregnancy to refer to the first trimester, second trimester or third trimester to indicate how far along in the pregnancy one is.  However, the dichotomy of dividing pregnancy into trimesters does not accurately reflect real fetal development.  When one is in the womb, one develops throughout the nine months of pregnancy and while two different pre-born babies may both be in the “first trimester,” one may be significantly more developed and aware than the other.  Thus, the division of pregnancy into “trimesters” carries no more intellectual validity than dividing it into “semesters” or “pentamesters” or “hexamesters” or nine month-long “nonomesters.”

The decision to divide the pregnancy into trimesters was made by seven men who had no medical experience and lived in a time where medical technology was far less sophisticated than as we know it today.  There is no sustainable reason why we should continue to follow their precedents in labeling the pregnancy as “trimesters.”  The trimester dichotomy was born in 1973 when the Supreme Court handed down the Roe v. Wade ruling which allowed professionals to perform abortions.  In the more detailed breakdown, the court gave some distinguishing to different levels of pregnancy – clumping the months together into “trimesters.”  The term “trimester” was not in medical use at the time.  Pregnance was discussed in terms of how many months along it was – not “trimesters.”  However, since then the medical community has adopted the gross oversimplification of seven men in robes (seven, not nine, since two justices on the court dissented – Byron White and William Rehnquist.)

The first trimester is the one most hindered by the trimester dichotomy.  We know now that life is autonomous at 6 weeks.  By that point, the pre-born baby has a beating heart, pumps its own blood, has a respiratory system, brain activity and reflexes.  He or she is also nearly capable of sucking his or her thumb.  This babe has come a long way from being a zygote.  It is only halfway through the “first trimester” and yet it has developed ever-so much.  This deserves recognition and to gain that kind of recognition at this point the study and categorization of fetal development must be released from the rigid trimester model – which fails to do justice.

In short, this trimester dichotomy was an ill-informed idea fostered outside the realm of medicine which should have no bearing in today’s world.  The study of the pregnancy must return to a month-by-month analysis or more and abandon these “trimester” collectives which have caused so much trouble and is responsible for much of the misconceptions and woes regarding pregnancy today.