"The implications for clinical practice of the neurobiological evidence presented in section 2 have been considered. Interpretation of existing data suggests that cortical processing and therefore fetal perception of pain cannot occur before 24 weeks of gestation. It is reasonable to infer from this that the fetus does not require analgesia for interventions occurring before 24 weeks of gestation. Diagnostic or therapeutic procedures that involve the fetus directly are very uncommon but do occur and can be associated with a stress response. However, this does not indicate that the fetus is aware or can feel pain. The case for administering analgesia before an invasive procedure (in addition to maternal general anaesthesia) after 24 weeks when the neuroanatomical connections are in place, needs to be considered together with the practicalities and risks of administration of fetal analgesia in continuing pregnancies and the uncertainties over long-term effects. Evidence that analgesia confers any benefit on the fetus at any gestation is lacking but should be a focus of future research that will need to include medium and longer-term as well as immediate outcomes."