Children
A Comprehensive Framework for Family-Centered Decision-Making in Perinatal Palliative Care: A Single Center’s Clinical Perspective
By Licia Lugli, Marisa Pugliese, Elisabetta Garetti and 9 others.
Abstract
Background
Perinatal Palliative Care (PPC) is a specialized approach designed to support families facing a prenatal or postnatal diagnosis of a life-limiting or life-threatening condition. Despite the publication of authoritative international guidelines, a significant translational gap persists between aspirational recommendations and consistent, reproducible clinical practice. Structured and operational frameworks may contribute to PPC implementation in real-world clinical settings. This Perspective aims to provide a practical, operational instrument for PPC, derived from and aligned with international guidelines, that translates their principles into concrete clinical steps.
Methods
We developed and implemented a structured PPC protocol at our tertiary academic center through a multidisciplinary review of existing PPC guidelines and an iterative internal institutional consensus process informed by clinical experience and feedback from parents and healthcare providers; this is a descriptive clinical Perspective rather than a formal research study.