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Crucial Decisions at the Beginning of Life- parents' experiences of treatment withdrawal at the beginning of life (Paperback)

£42.75

Hazel McHaffie

ISBN: 1 85775 479 4
Pages: 464

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Hazel McHaffie, Research Fellow and Deputy Director, Institute of Medical Ethics, University of Edinburgh
Foreword by David Harvey, Professor of Paediatrics, Imperial College of Medicine, Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital, London

This is a unique and valuable work, which traces the experiences of over 100 parents who have lived through the loss of a baby. It follows them from pregnancy through to 13 months after the death. Based on rigorous scientific research it describes their feelings when crucial decisions are made on behalf of their child, and examines their capacity to take responsibility for such decisions. By analysing those factors which help or hinder them, the book provides guidance to health professionals on how the services they offer may be improved.

Neonatologists, paediatricians, midwives and neonatal nurses will find it an essential and enlightening read. Primary care clinicians, intensive care staff and hospital chaplains will discover insights which help them to support a wider group of patients and relatives.

‘This is an important book. It recounts the experiences of families whose babies died or were involved in the withdrawal of medical treatment. What the parents have to say is very revealing and demonstrates how easy it is to make mistakes in their care. Their comments are instructive and will help us in the care of other families. We must aim to give faultless care, but need to recognise that we often fall short of our aim. The parents who recounted the events in these interviews are excellent teachers in showing us where it is easy to go wrong’
David Harvey, in the Foreword


Contents: Parental grief * The study method * The respondent families * Pregnancy and birth (pregnancy up to the onset of labour - the labour and delivery) * When things went wrong * Decision making * Management of dying * The funeral * Follow up * The effect of the death on the family * Support in bereavement * Parents' opinions * Some concluding thoughts * Recommendation * Appendix One: Data on non-respondent families * References

By Hazel McHaffie in association with:
Peter W Fowlie * Robert Hume * Ian A Laing * David J Lloyd * Andrew J Lyon

Published: March 2001