{"title":"\"The significance of clinical foetal autopsy for reproductive health care: an ethical analysis in the German context\".","authors":"Elisa Groff, Marta C Cohen, Florian Steger","doi":"10.1007/s11019-025-10265-8","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The clinical autopsy of foetuses, stillborn babies, or neonates and the examination of the placenta help to inform the mother's decision-making and her medical care for subsequent pregnancies. Indeed, these post-mortem examinations can identify unexpected congenital malformations or the cause of repeated miscarriage or stillbirth. However, the use of clinical pathology for diagnostic purposes in the context of family planning for bereaved parents with an unfulfilled desire to have a child, and IVF couples has received little attention to date. This article applies Beauchamp and Childress' bioethical framework to identify, assess and systematically discuss ethical issues associated with the use of clinical foetal autopsy in reproductive healthcare within the German legal context. In the format of a clinical ethics consultation, the article examines the current policy on perinatal post-mortem examinations in Germany, and asks whether the clinical foetal autopsy for reproductive health purposes should be part of standard clinical examinations offered to bereaved parents. The conclusion of our research recommends clinical foetal autopsy as ethically acceptable, provided that the necessary resources are available. This recommendation is based on the ethical obligation towards the mother as the patient, which is grounded in the bioethical principles of autonomy and beneficence.</p>","PeriodicalId":47449,"journal":{"name":"Medicine Health Care and Philosophy","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Medicine Health Care and Philosophy","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-025-10265-8","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ETHICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The clinical autopsy of foetuses, stillborn babies, or neonates and the examination of the placenta help to inform the mother's decision-making and her medical care for subsequent pregnancies. Indeed, these post-mortem examinations can identify unexpected congenital malformations or the cause of repeated miscarriage or stillbirth. However, the use of clinical pathology for diagnostic purposes in the context of family planning for bereaved parents with an unfulfilled desire to have a child, and IVF couples has received little attention to date. This article applies Beauchamp and Childress' bioethical framework to identify, assess and systematically discuss ethical issues associated with the use of clinical foetal autopsy in reproductive healthcare within the German legal context. In the format of a clinical ethics consultation, the article examines the current policy on perinatal post-mortem examinations in Germany, and asks whether the clinical foetal autopsy for reproductive health purposes should be part of standard clinical examinations offered to bereaved parents. The conclusion of our research recommends clinical foetal autopsy as ethically acceptable, provided that the necessary resources are available. This recommendation is based on the ethical obligation towards the mother as the patient, which is grounded in the bioethical principles of autonomy and beneficence.
期刊介绍:
Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy: A European Journal is the official journal of the European Society for Philosophy of Medicine and Health Care. It provides a forum for international exchange of research data, theories, reports and opinions in bioethics and philosophy of medicine. The journal promotes interdisciplinary studies, and stimulates philosophical analysis centered on a common object of reflection: health care, the human effort to deal with disease, illness, death as well as health, well-being and life. Particular attention is paid to developing contributions from all European countries, and to making accessible scientific work and reports on the practice of health care ethics, from all nations, cultures and language areas in Europe.