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Peer-reviewed article

Neonatal Autopsy and Parental Grief

Background: Details surrounding the death of child leave a lasting impression on families. The decision to have an autopsy is one aspect of end-of-life care that can be particularly troublesome. The medical benefits of autopsy have been…

By John D. LantosJanuary 1, 20181 min readin Unknown Journal

Background: Details surrounding the death of child leave a lasting impression on families. The decision to have an autopsy is one aspect of end-of-life care that can be particularly troublesome. The medical benefits of autopsy have been well documented, but the autopsy’s impact on parental grief and bereavement is less clear. No study has compared grief between parents who chose to have an autopsy examination and those who did …

Originally published at Unknown Journal · January 1, 2018.

About the author

John D. Lantos is a pediatrician and bioethicist writing on AI in medicine, neonatal intensive care, and end-of-life decisions. His essays appear in JAMA, JAMA Pediatrics, the Hastings Center Report, the New England Journal of Medicine, and Aeon. Read more about John.

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