Welcome to the 9th EAPS Congress Programme Scheduling

Abstract Body

Perinatal Palliative Care (PPC) is a recent area of development in the palliative care discipline but has rapidly increased all over the world. The first programs started in the late ’80s, and at the present, Perinatal Hospice and Palliative care list more than 300 programs in 22 countries, with a major focus on Anglo-Saxon countries.

In modern societies, there is a higher prevalence of perinatal and neonatal conditions with palliative care needs, since diagnosis, frequently during pregnancy. Evidence shows that when there is a choice for PPC, families accessing these programs increase significantly. There is also an important raising in children living with life-limiting conditions and facing complex medical needs under the first year of age.

PPC development of services and programs is a WHO demand to promote universal health coverage. There is a growing number of pathways, research and recommendations in PPC, but there is still a lack of programs and specific perinatal referrals worldwide. The majority of programs are very recent and show significant differences that must be addressed by research: settings, healthcare team composition, training and education, eligibility criteria, domains of care, reimbursement mechanisms and quality indicators and parental satisfaction predictors.

PPC takes place in an area not used to the language of palliative care, such as obstetrics. So, there is a need for universal health education for all professionals involved in the care of families from pregnancy to neonatal care. The education should address all the important and basic topics of care, including a deep reflection on the new ethical scenarios raised from PPC development.