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Joint periviability counseling between neonatology and obstetrics is a rare occurrence

Journal of Perinatology volume 40, pages 1789–1796 (2020)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective

To investigate the frequency with which neonatal and maternal–fetal medicine (MFM) providers perform joint periviability counseling (JPC), compare content of counseling, and identify perceived barriers to JPC.

Study design

An anonymous REDCap survey was e-mailed to members of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine and to members of the Society for MFM.

Results

There were 424 neonatal and 115 MFM participants. Fifty-two percent of neonatal and 35% of MFM respondents reported rarely/never performing JPC (p < 0.001), while 80% and 82%, respectively felt it would improve counseling. Content of counseling was similar, except for length of stay with 93% of neonatal vs. 85% of MFM respondents addressing this (p = 0.03). The majority (>60%) of respondents in both groups reported that clinical duties posed a significant/great barrier to JPC.

Conclusion

JPC is recommended but infrequently performed, with both specialties interested in further collaboration to strengthen the counseling provided.

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Fig. 1: How often do you perform joint periviability counseling?

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all of the participants in the study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Newborn Medicine, New York-Presbyterian Hospital—Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Rachel Reed & Ericalyn Kasdorf

  2. Division of Newborn Medicine, Mount Sinai Health System, New York, NY, USA

    Rachel Reed

  3. Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, New York-Presbyterian Hospital—Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Tracy Grossman

  4. Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Tracy Grossman

  5. Department of Population Health Sciences, New York-Presbyterian Hospital—Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Gulce Askin & Linda M. Gerber

Authors
  1. Rachel Reed
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  3. Gulce Askin
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  4. Linda M. Gerber
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  5. Ericalyn Kasdorf
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Contributions

RR and EK conceptualized and designed the study, designed the survey, collected data, carried out the initial analyses, drafted the initial paper, and reviewed and revised the paper. LMG and GA designed the survey, carried out the analyses, drafted the methods section and reviewed the paper. TG designed the survey and reviewed the paper. All authors approved the final paper as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rachel Reed.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Reed, R., Grossman, T., Askin, G. et al. Joint periviability counseling between neonatology and obstetrics is a rare occurrence. J Perinatol 40, 1789–1796 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-020-00796-8

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