You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Best practice and Fifteen-minute consultations
Fifteen-minute consultation: How to approach the withdrawal of neonatal intensive care
  1. Irnthu Premadeva1,
  2. Alice Gardham2,
  3. Adele Faller1,
  4. Lisa Selkirk1
  1. 1 Neonatal Unit, Luton and Dunstable Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Luton, UK
  2. 2 North West Thames Regional Genetics Service, Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow, London, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Lisa Selkirk, Luton and Dunstable University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Luton LU4 0DZ, UK; lisa.selkirk{at}ldh.nhs.uk

Abstract

Withdrawal of life-sustaining support on the neonatal unit presents a set of unique challenges specific in this age group of patients. This article aims to provide an overview of the key factors that should be considered during this process. It explores the practicalities of care delivery that reflects the psychological impact of undergoing end-of-life care on parents and team members. It will also highlight the role of clinical genetics that can be used to understand the underlying disease pathology and therefore can be a valuable tool in the difficult decision-making process.

  • neonatology
  • genetics
  • psychology
  • palliative care

https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2021-321667

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • Contributors Article plan constructed and write-up led by IP. Supervision of article write up provided by LS. All authors contributed to the write up of the article.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; externally peer reviewed.