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Recognising uncertainty: an integrated framework for palliative care in perinatal medicine

Wilkinson, D; Bertaud, S; Mancini, A; Murdoch, E; Whateley, A; Anderson, AK; Oddy, A; ... English, S; + view all (2024) Recognising uncertainty: an integrated framework for palliative care in perinatal medicine. Archives of Disease in Childhood: Fetal and Neonatal Edition 10.1136/archdischild-2024-327662. (In press). Green open access

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Abstract

In perinatal medicine, the number of babies with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions is increasing and the benefits of providing palliative care with a holistic, interdisciplinary approach are well documented. It can be particularly challenging, however, to integrate palliative care into routine care where there exists uncertainty about a baby’s diagnosis or potential outcome. This framework, developed collaboratively by the British Association of Perinatal Medicine (BAPM) and the Association of Paediatric Palliative Medicine (APPM), offers supportive guidance for all healthcare professionals working in perinatal medicine across antenatal and neonatal services. It explicitly acknowledges that palliative care is not just for babies who are dying or who will certainly die in early life; incorporating a palliative approach into antenatal and neonatal care for all babies with an uncertain outcome can be particularly valuable. The framework provides guidance on recognising babies who may benefit from palliative care and outlines the key elements of perinatal palliative care: holistic family support, empowering parents to be parents, parallel planning, symptom management and loss and bereavement care. It provides recommendations for the delivery of palliative care services, advocating for a unified approach that involves all members of the perinatal team, supported by specialist services as needed. This framework calls for a shift in the philosophy and practice of perinatal care to integrate palliative care into the everyday and to recognise and embrace the challenge of uncertain prognosis.

Type: Article
Title: Recognising uncertainty: an integrated framework for palliative care in perinatal medicine
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1136/archdischild-2024-327662
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2024-327662
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. - For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright license to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.
Keywords: Neonatology, Palliative Care
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL EGA Institute for Womens Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL EGA Institute for Womens Health > Neonatology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10206905
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