Grasping the meaning of perinatal palliative care for the multiprofessional team

Abstract

Objective: To grasp the meaning of perinatal palliative care for the multidisciplinary team. Methods: This is a qualitative study guided by content analysis. The study included 56 health professionals working in maternal and child units of a public university hospital. A semi-structured interview was conducted, which was recorded and subsequently fully transcribed. The collection took place from June 2018 to May 2019. Data were entered and exported to Atlas ti: The Qualitative Date Analysis & Research Software, version 23.1.1.0. Results: Four thematic categories emerged from the data analysis: palliative care and eligible public in the view of professionals; communication between family and team in decision-making; assistance in palliative care; humanized care. Conclusions: The professionals think of palliative care in Perinatology in a similar way and perceive the difficulties of communication with the family and decision-making. They agree that it is necessary to provide greater support to the family, and to provide comfort measures, either for the non-viable fetus or for the baby eligible for palliative care.