B D Finch Jul 9, 2015:

Nurturing responses People's nurturing responses are not fully rational and are often triggered not only by babies, but by small, furry mammals with big eyes, roundish faces and podgy little legs, which is why so many adolescent dogs and cats end up in animal shelters when they no longer trigger those responses. That is one argument for why we need to rationally check our emotional responses.

B D Finch Jul 9, 2015:

Infants A baby is not "in a nurturing state", it triggers a nurturing response in adults. In pediatrics, "infant" means from birth to 12 months. In the British education system, it means a schoolchild under the age of 7-8 years (when they go up to junior school depending upon their birth date). In law, it used to mean up to the age of majority, which was 21 years and is now 18 years. A baby in the womb is not an infant according to any generally accepted meaning of that word.

NB I did not write that "a baby is in a blankish slate", which is not proper English. Note that I did write "a blankish slate", not "a blankish state"! If babies were in a blank state, they would never develop and infancy is actually a period of very rapid development. Whatever the nurturing responses that are triggered in human adults and older children by a baby, the fact is that a baby is in the process of becoming a person. Our nurturing responses serve the function of helping to ensure that the baby successfully becomes a person, through developing social relationships, as well as developing physically, intellectually and psychologically.

TonyTK Jul 9, 2015:

"Child-to-be"? ...

Phoenix III Jul 9, 2015:

@ Asker & B D Finch I don't see anything more neutral and to the point without getting into politically correct grounds, than the original "infant". I was going to suggest it until I read the discussion entries. B D FINCH: I am not so sure about your opinion that a baby is in a blankish slate. A baby is in a nurturing state and so it brings up the protective maternal instinct in all of us. A child does almost the same but at least he/she can express his needs and wants but it does not fit the context. Infant to me is a bit more neutral and appropriate.

Piyush Ojha Jul 9, 2015:

Prenate came to mind but, apart from sounding clinical, it does not seem to be a proper English word (unlike neonate) and it has also been registered as a trademark.

B D Finch Jul 9, 2015:

@Phoenix & Asker @Phoenix
I beg to differ. A baby is, up until and for a while after birth, a blankish slate, while a child has intellect, personality, feelings and social relationships. SPUC used the term "unborn child" for exactly that reason: because it created an unscientific, emotional, negative response to abortion rights.

@Asker
I suspect the major landmine is the possibility of making unsubstantiated or excessive claims about benefits of the product. Your solution for what to call the sprogs seems fine.

Phoenix III Jul 9, 2015:

@ Asker Child is less emotive than baby. The word baby conjures up emotions a million times more than child.

Lincoln Hui (asker) Jul 9, 2015:

Specifically it's product description for a fish oil product on the dealer's website for Hong Kong. The sample sentence that I provided was part of the actual draft and I later changed it to "Improves brain and vision development in infants before and after birth".

I have no problem with trying to impress the reader with professional-sounding words, but I want to stay away from any potential landmines in marketing lingo.

Victoria Britten Jul 9, 2015:

@Asker Could we have some more examples of the kind of context you will be using this in? The variety of answers in this case might reflect the fact that we do not have quite all the elements we need.

B D Finch Jul 9, 2015:

@dandamesh "Unborn child" definitely does not "[give] the idea of stillbirth" because, once a stillbirth has occurred, the adjective "unborn" can no longer apply. The problem is that "unborn child" is considered by many people to be highly emotive, misleading language used by anti-abortionists to create prejudice, while other people consider the word "foetus" (or "fetus" EN-US) to be deliberately clinical.

dandamesh Jul 9, 2015:

@Victoria Yes, I agreed and agrees with you

Victoria Britten Jul 9, 2015:

@dandamesh "Unborn child" does usually refer to a child still in the womb, rather than stillborn - for me the association would rather be with protection of the unborn child, i.e. the anti-abortion/"pro-life" movement.

dandamesh Jul 9, 2015:

@Victoria I think your interpretation is right, fetal development refers to a pregnancy stage, maybe during pregnancy could also be a solution.
Otherwise, unborn child gives the idea of stillbirth

Victoria Britten Jul 9, 2015:

@Asker To my mind your sample sentence is fine, but you could also say "Improves infant brain and vision development both before and after birth" if you really want to avoid "fetal". I feel the use of "fetal" here is not offensive but gives the description a more authoritative, 'medical' feel, so it depends how these products are wanting to sell themselves.

Lincoln Hui (asker) Jul 9, 2015:

Lay persons.

Tania McConaghy Jul 9, 2015:

target reader? Is this for lay persons or HCPs?

Lincoln Hui (asker) Jul 9, 2015:

Here be a sample sentence:
"Improves fetal and infant brain and vision development"

Does this look fine in a healthcare product brochure, for example (leaving FDA regulations and whatnot aside)?