Managing Uncertainty in Perinatal Medicine and Palliative Care

Explore perinatal palliative care and its role in managing uncertainty

Every year, thousands of families face the challenging reality of uncertain perinatal outcomes.

Join experts from the British Association of Perinatal Medicine, Sands, Bliss and the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to gain the knowledge and practical tools to support patients and their families.

Understand the foundations of perinatal palliative care

Begin this course with an overview of the challenges and uncertainties families and healthcare professionals face in early life care.

You’ll be introduced to the BAPM framework, which offers an integrated approach to palliative care, emphasising parent support and care planning.

Develop effective communication with families

Then, discuss how to initiate and guide sensitive conversations with parents who are facing heartbreaking decisions.

You’ll also discover best practices for writing letters and advance care plans (ACP) to ensure parents are empowered to make informed choices for their baby.

Apply collaborative approaches to managing uncertainty

Next, you’ll gain valuable skills in handling uncertainty through collaborative, multi-disciplinary team (MDT) strategies.

You’ll hear from parents experiencing reproductive loss and from neonatologists and other specialists about how they address uncertainty in their practice and work together to provide the best care possible.

Support families through end-of-life care and loss

This course concludes with a focus on providing holistic end-of-life care, supporting families through the loss of a baby, and managing the emotional challenges of bereavement.

You’ll explore the role of specialist palliative care teams, post-mortem discussions, cultural diversity, and bereavement care while emphasising compassionate leadership during this emotional journey.

This course is for healthcare professionals who support parents during challenging moments in pregnancy and neonatal care.

Whether you’re a doctor, midwife, nurse, or mental health professional, you’ll gain valuable skills to navigate uncertainty and provide compassionate care. It’s also perfect for students interested in perinatal care.

This course is for healthcare professionals who support parents during challenging moments in pregnancy and neonatal care.

Whether you’re a doctor, midwife, nurse, or mental health professional, you’ll gain valuable skills to navigate uncertainty and provide compassionate care. It’s also perfect for students interested in perinatal care.

• Demonstrate an understanding of the experiences of parents with a baby who has an uncertain future and may have a short life before or after birth.
• Reflect on and listen to parents' experiences of perinatal palliative care.
• Assess existing resources, including the British Association for Perinatal Medicine (BAPM) framework, as well as other guidelines and learning materials for perinatal palliative care, complex decision-making, parallel planning and end-of-life care.
• Explore the challenges faced by parents and healthcare professionals when reaching a consensus on the optimal care pathways for babies who have an uncertain future.
• Identify how experienced healthcare professionals approach complex cases, including how they communicate with parents and the wider family.