Child Welfare Services for the Catastrophically Ill Newborn: Part I—A Confusion of Responsibility.

NEWBORN infant care; DECISION making; CHILD welfare; CATASTROPHIC illness; MEDICAL ethics; BIOETHICS; PROBLEM solving; MEDICAL care; NEWBORN infants

The article focuses on issues related to the treatment decisions during child welfare services for the catastrophically ill newborn. Treatment decisions for catastrophically ill newborns are critical decisions. There are several difficult bioethical decisions that should properly be made by parents under the guidance of physicians and health care workers. The decisions are based on the proper utilization of the resources and administration of infant ethics committees within the involved hospitals. It is opined that the child protective service system should have the final authority in this context.