Defense Date

4-2-2024

Graduation Date

Spring 5-10-2024

Availability

One-year Embargo

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

PhD

Department

Health Care Ethics

School

McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts

Committee Chair

Dr. Gerard Magill

Committee Member

Dr. Joris Gielen

Committee Member

Dr. Peter Ikechukwu Osuji

Keywords

perinatal ethics; obstetrics medical complications; obstetrics ethical questions; neonatal medical complications; neonatal ethical questions; ethics committee; ethics consultations; parental decision-making; fathers; LGBT+ parents.

Abstract

This dissertation, “Perinatal Ethics: the Role of Ethics Consultation around Parental Dilemmas Before and After Birth,” aims to examine the nuances of clinical ethics consultations in the field of perinatal ethics. Perinatal ethics entails ethical quandaries that emerge during a life-changing shift in prospective parents’ lives: pregnancy, childbirth, and the first days to months of their child’s life. Although pregnancy and childbirth often come with happy and joyful memories; this is not always the case. When fetal anomalies are diagnosed either with prenatal screening tests, or when maternal health complications develop during pregnancy, or when delivery-related emergencies occur during childbirth, parents endure incredible pain and stress. They are called to make difficult ethical decisions such as terminating their pregnancy or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment from their child. From a clinical ethics perspective, the decision-making process in the pre- and post-natal period changes: before birth, the pregnant woman has the legal and ethical right to make autonomous decisions affecting her body and, consequently, that of the fetus; after birth, parents engage in shared decision-making wherein the other parent (the father or a co-parent in a homosexual relationship) share equal parental responsibilities to decide what is best for their child. This shift makes the resolution of ethical dilemmas more complex and distinctive from any other clinical space. This dissertation argues that clinical ethics consultants who are called to facilitate a resolution of ethical dilemmas in perinatal settings need to be trained specifically to deal with these ethical quandaries. The dissertation explores the ethical dilemmas regarding clinical complications arising before and after birth to address the knowledge, skills, and competencies for ethics consultation with parents and their medical team in perinatal settings.

Language

English

Additional Citations

Giulia Adele Dinicola, "A Dialogue between Hindu and Catholic Perspectives in Taking Care of Newborns at their End-of-Life," Asian Bioethics Review (2024), https://doi.org/10.1007/s41649-023-00275-0.

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