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27/03/2006
Row erupts over baby 'bed blockers' comments
A row has broken out after a report described the treatment of premature babies as 'bed blocking'.
A report by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists suggested that resources would be better used to treat babies born over 25 weeks with a better chance of survival, rather than those born under 25 weeks.
President of the Royal College of Paediatrics, Professor Alan Craft, said that many paediatricians would be in favour of adopting the model used in the Netherlands, which does not allow active intervention for very early babies.
Professor Craft said: "The vast majority of children born at this gestation who do survive have significant disabilities. There is a lifetime cost and that needs to be taken into the equation when society tries to decide whether it wants to intervene."
However, premature baby charity Bliss said that the idea was an abuse of the human rights of premature babies. Chief Executive Rob Williams said: "We might as well have a policy of not treating victims of car crashes which occur at over 50 miles an hour, or denying medical services to those over a certain age."
(KMcA/SP)
A report by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists suggested that resources would be better used to treat babies born over 25 weeks with a better chance of survival, rather than those born under 25 weeks.
President of the Royal College of Paediatrics, Professor Alan Craft, said that many paediatricians would be in favour of adopting the model used in the Netherlands, which does not allow active intervention for very early babies.
Professor Craft said: "The vast majority of children born at this gestation who do survive have significant disabilities. There is a lifetime cost and that needs to be taken into the equation when society tries to decide whether it wants to intervene."
However, premature baby charity Bliss said that the idea was an abuse of the human rights of premature babies. Chief Executive Rob Williams said: "We might as well have a policy of not treating victims of car crashes which occur at over 50 miles an hour, or denying medical services to those over a certain age."
(KMcA/SP)
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Survival Rates Of Premature Babies Increase
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