Assessing risks at 22–24 weeks gestation

Article type: Article Commentary

Authors: Aghababaie, A.^{a; *} | Zeina, M.^b

Affiliations: [a] Homerton Healthcare NHS Trust | [b] Barts Health NHS Trust

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Arameh Aghababaie, MBBS, BSc, Homerton University Hospital, Homerton Row, London, E9 6SR. Tel.: 02085105555; E-mail: [email protected].

Abstract: The recent British Association of Perinatal Medicine (BAPM) guidance published in 2019 suggested for the first time that we can consider resuscitation of extremely premature infants (EPI) at 22–24 weeks gestational age (GA) on a case-by-case basis in the UK. This has sent waves throughout UK neonatal units, and we believe this arises because we’re now confronted with challenging decisions about whether a foetus under 24 weeks will be viable or not, and whether it’s in their best interests to provide ‘survival-focused’ care (SFC) or ‘comfort-focused’ care (CFC). Despite a robust framework introduced by BAPM, we believe uncertainty still remains.

Keywords: Decision-making, prematurity, survival, viability

DOI: 10.3233/NPM-221079

Journal: Journal of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 1-3, 2023