The Perinatal Hospice: Allowing Parents to be Parents

The Perinatal Hospice: Allowing Parents to be Parents | Charlotte Lozier Institute: Perinatology– also known as maternal fetal medicine—is that branch of obstetrics  concerned with the care of mother and fetus and the handling of high-risk pregnancies.

In recent yeatrs, perinatologists have been incorporating into their practice a new concept in perinatal care called the “perinatal hospice.” This care originated in 1996 with the controversy over “partial-birth abortion.” This abortion method involved the surgical procedure where the baby would be delivered to the shoulders as a breech, then deliberately held in place while a scissors or other sharp instrument was inserted through the baby’s posterior skull into the brain resulting in death. Many perinatologists believed this procedure so horrible that they sought to find a better way to care for our patients facing the hardest circumstances.

Perinatal hospice is the prenatal diagnosis of a terminally ill fetus in-utero leading to perinatal hospice as part of the continuum of end-of-life care. . . .  Many of the hospice principles were successfully applied in perinatal hospice. The emphasis is on affirming life by care for the loved one, yet regarding dying as a normal part of life. A conscious effort is made to neither hasten death nor prolong dying. The team stresses values beyond the mere physical needs of the dying individual and allows the parents to “parent” their child for whatever time they are allowed. The family is supported in their medical, emotional, and spiritual needs through an organized, multidisciplinary team that cares for them after the death of the loved child during the period of grief.
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