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Parental decision-making in NICU

Journal of Perinatology volume 29, page 649 (2009)Cite this article

FR Ward's article1 yields valuable insights into naturalistic parental decision-making. Ward identifies many elements that affect parental decisions about research in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit): confusion, fear for child's survival, a potentially mistaken perception of benefits and varied fears about research risks. A sense of vulnerability coexists with the sense of control in making decisions. Given the chaos of NICU and the perceived urgency of decisions, it is heartening that most parents were satisfied with their choices.

Ward's work hints at differences in parents’ appraisal of the risk for prenatally diagnosed conditions and for neonatal conditions. This should be further explored in future work on the factors that affect parental decision-making in the perinatal period.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Spectrum Family Medicine, SC, Naperville, IL, USA

    E A Pector

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  1. E A Pector
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Correspondence to E A Pector.

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Pector, E. Parental decision-making in NICU. J Perinatol 29, 649 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2009.76

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