When should a neonatal death be referred to the coroner? Initiation of a guideline to aid decision making

Despite improved survival, particularly for extremely preterm infants, sadly some neonates die. When this happens, it may be appropriate to refer the death to the coroner, however, there is huge variation in practice between settings regarding the coroner referral process. After a particular case concerning several hospitals, we reviewed available evidence and produced a guideline to aid this process, involving both neonatologists and our coroner’s office, and including parental concerns. This has enabled a systematic, transparent approach that is equal for all infants.

Narendra Aladangady
FRCPCH, PhD
Consultant Neonatologist and Honorary Clinical Professor in Child Health, Neonatal Unit, Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, and Queen Mary University of London
n.aladangady@nhs.net

Philippa Chisholm
FRCPCH
Consultant Neonatologist, Neonatal Unit, Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London

Full text available by subscription ...

The full text of this article is available to subscribers in text, and in Tablet/iPad format and as a PDF file.

Please subscribe and log in to see the full article.

Keywords

parent support; early language; literacy; interaction; family-integrated care

Key points

Infants born preterm have increased risk of communication and literacy problems.
Introducing literacy through access to a neonatal library is an important addition to family-integrated care.
Involving parents in early communication and literacy opportunities on the NNU can have significant benefits for parent-infant co-occupation and infant development.

Also published in Infant:

VOLUME 17/ISSUE 3, MAY 2021

Parent simulation education – early implementation on the NICU

Introducing practices and facilities that encourage and support families to actively care for their infants while on a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is essential in providing effective family-integrated care. In this article we describe the design, implementation and evaluation of a parent simulation teaching programme to improve parental confidence in caring for their infant within the first two weeks of their admission to the NICU.