3 in 4 doctors say not all ill babies should be saved

NEARLY 75% of Irish doctors do not believe everything possible should be done to save the life of a seriously ill newborn baby — if their long-term health is likely to be bleak.

The study shows Irish doctors and nurses question the quality of life a severely intellectually disabled child can have. They hold out more hope for the quality of a life of a severely physically disabled child.

Disability support groups have reacted with horror to the survey, saying no doctor has the right to “play God”.

According to the research in the Archives of Disease in Childhood: Fetal and Neonatal Edition shows 42% of doctors and nurses disagree that when a child is severely physically disabled, “some life is better than none at all”.

This figure rises to 63% when doctors and nurses were asked about children with severe mental disability. When just doctors were questioned, up to 75% questioned the quality of life of children with severe mental disability.

It appears doctors in Irish neonatal units also consider the burden a disabled child will have on their family. Up to 73% disagreed with the statement that the burden of the disabled child on the family “is not relevant” when making ethical decisions about treatment of the newborn.

The study also showed doctors and nurses disagree on babies being given the maximum amount of intensive care, irrespective of outcome, if their case history could help future patients. More than 75% of doctors and nurses disagreed with this.

According to the study’s authors, neonatal doctors and nurses hold similar attitudes towards ethical decision making.

“Compared with the rest of Europe, attitudes in Ireland appear more similar to those of southern Catholic rather than northern EU countries, ” they said.

Unlike elsewhere, there are no guidelines published here.

People with Disabilities Chairman, Stephen Mac White said newborn babies have the same right to life as anyone else and equal entitlement to full medical help.

“This right to the best of medical expertise is enshrined in law. No one has the right to play God. Newborns with disabilities have equal entitlement to medical interventions to save or prolong their lives,” he said.