Publication
Termination of pregnancy without feticide: A French national survey. [French]
Chappe H, Betremieux P, Morel V, Huillery M, Le Bouar G · Journal de Gynecologie Obstetrique et Biologie de la Reproduction · 2016
Purpose. - Termination of pregnancy without feticide (TOPWF) is poorly known in France and far less practiced than palliative care after term birth of a child having a lethal pathology. Few teams consider it and its practice remains confidential. This survey tries to describe it. Material and methods. - A national survey was realized in 2014 using a questionnaire sent to50 centers of prenatal diagnosis depending on a perinatal diagnosis center in France. Results. -Thirty-one centers answered the questionnaire. Seven teams shared their experience of TOPWF after 22-24 weeks gestation (WG). This practice concerned fetuses affected by "lethal" pathologies. The absence of feticide followed a parental request or a proposal of the medical team, after individual discussion in a multidisciplinary meeting. All the children born alive after TOPWF benefited of palliative care. The 24 other centers having answered our investigation performed systematically the feticide beyond 22-24 WG. They so wished "to protect" the fetus, the parents and the nursing team. A majority of these teams faced parental demands of abstention of feticide but few of them answered it favorably. Conclusion. -A robust "palliative culture" seems essential to allow the nursing team to consider the development of TOPWF.
Synced from the TRENDS in Pediatric Palliative Care Zotero library, curated by The Siden Research Team. ICPCN does not host or verify the full text.