Neonatal euthanasia in the context of palliative and EoL care

Neonatal euthanasia in the context of palliative and EoL care

Verhagen AAE

Seminars in Fetal and Neonatal Medicine

2023

End-of-life care; Ethics; Palliative care; Infant Newborn; Decision-making; Nicu; Neonatal euthanasia

Neonatal deaths can be categorized in 5 modes along the dimension of intervention and physiology. This classification can be helpful to analyze the choices that can be made in end-of-life care in the NICU. In the Netherlands, neonatal euthanasia became an optional 6th mode of death since publication and legalization of the Groningen Protocol. This paper summarizes the history, legal status and ethical justification of the Groningen Protocol, and describes end-of-life practice in the subsequent years. Since the implementation of the Groningen Protocol, the practice of neonatal euthanasia has almost disappeared. Simultaneously, there has been spectacular growth in neonatal palliative care programs in the Netherlands. Is there still a need for this last-resort option?

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