Recommendations for the palliative care of dying neonates

Abstract

Neonates and infants have the highest mortality rate in the pediatric patient population, but there is a paucity of data about their palliative care. Most neonate deaths occur during the first week of life so it is mostly the staff of NICUS's and obstetrical wards who are confronted with the palliative care of dying neonates. Clinical experience shows that many aspects of care in palliative situations are not well known to the health care providers. This is especially true for pain assessment and pain treatment during the dying process. A search of the literature on this subject resulted in only a few publications; hence, this article basically describes clinical experience in the palliative care of neonates. In this article some recommendations for decision-making and standardization of palliative care for dying neonates are presented.