The Journal of pediatrics
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The Journal of pediatrics · Nov 2005
The ethics of neonatal resuscitation at the margins of viability: informed consent and outcomes.
To determine the adequacy of records of parental counseling in mothers with threatened preterm delivery before 27 weeks gestation, whether interventions performed at birth were consistent with recorded antenatal decisions and whether extent of resuscitation affected the occurrence of serious short-term morbidity. ⋯ Records of antenatal consultations were often lacking important information. Variations in physician documentation practices are substantial and affect the care offered to infants at the threshold of viability. Even extensive resuscitation can be followed by intact survival if the resuscitation required is brief.