Ethical dimensions of fetal neurology.
Ethics is an essential dimension of the management of counseling a pregnant woman when a neurologic anomaly is diagnosed. This paper provides an overview of obstetric ethics, with a central focus on the ethical concept of the fetus as a patient. On this basis, the authors analyze the ethical and clinical dimensions of the obstetric management options for pregnancies complicated by a neurologic anomaly. These management options include aggressive management, induced abortion, termination of pregnancy during the third trimester, non-aggressive obstetric management, and cephalocentesis.
New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY 10065, USA. fac2001@med.cornell.edu
Frank A
FA
Chervenak
Laurence B
LB
McCullough
D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus; D006801:Humans; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009774:Obstetrics / Q000941:ethics*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000941:ethics*