title: Ethical decisions in the delivery room.
abstract: Avoidance of futile therapies that only prolong suffering and the high emotional and economic cost to family and society justifies an attempted differentiation of infants whose defects are so extensive or whose prognoses are so poor that CPR should be withheld. This article discusses the ethical bases for decision making in the DR and the three most common diagnoses in which CPR decisions are most difficult: infants with severe congenital defects, extremely low birthweight infants, and infants with severe perinatal asphyxia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Ochsner Clinic, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Goldsmith
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Ginsberg
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: McGettigan
mesh_terms: D001238:Asphyxia Neonatorum / Q000503:physiopathology; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities; D003696:Delivery Rooms; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D028663:Ethical Theory; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005065:Euthanasia; D028601:Euthanasia, Active; D005066:Euthanasia, Passive; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D033161:Government Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D010290:Parents; D018579:Patient Selection; D010819:Physician's Role; D011247:Pregnancy; D012151:Resuscitation; D012945:Social Values; D014481:United States; D028761:Withholding Treatment