Ethical Issues in Maternal-Fetal Medicine

This book addresses the ethical problems in maternal-fetal medicine which impact directly on clinical practice.

Donna L. Dickenson (Edited by)

9780521662666, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 7 February 2002

366 pages
23.2 x 15.5 x 2.2 cm, 0.736 kg

'Some useful insights into this increasingly important area of our clinical practice can be gained from this book … This book would be a useful addition to your obstetric and gynaecology department's library. Subspecialists in maternal-fetal medicine and reproductive medicine would find the content of particular interest and should steer their trainees in this book's direction.' The Obstetrician & Gynaecologist

This book brings together an unusually broad range of experts from reproductive medicine, medical ethics and law to address the important ethical problems in maternal-fetal medicine which impact directly on clinical practice. The book is divided into parts by the stages of pregnancy, within which the authors cover four main areas: • the balance of power in the doctor-patient relationship and the justifiable limits of paternalism and autonomy • the impact of new technologies and new diseases • disability and enhancement (the 'designer baby') • difference - to what extent should the clinician respect the tenets of other faiths in a multicultural society, even when the doctor believes requested interventions or non-interventions to be morally wrong? The aim throughout is to unite analytic philosophy and actual practice. This is an important text not only for clinicians involved in human reproduction, but also philosophers and lawyers.

1. Introduction: recent debates in maternal-fetal ethics: what are the ethical questions? Donna Dickenson
2. Overview: a framework for reproductive ethics Carson Strong
Part I. Generic Issues in Pregnancy: 3. Multi-cultural issues in maternal-fetal medicine Sirkku Hellsten
4. HIV in pregnancy: ethical issues in screening and therapeutic research Paquita de Zulueta
5. Genetic screening: should parents seek to perfect their children genetically? Rosemarie Tong
6. Is there a duty not to reproduce? Jean McHale
7. Between fathers and fetuses Cynthia Daniels
8. Restricting the freedom of pregnant women Susan Bewley
Part II. Inception of Pregnancy: New Reproductive Technologies: 9. Ethical issues in embryo intervention and cloning Françoise Shenfield
10. A case study in IVF: paternalism and autonomy in a 'high-risk' pregnancy Gillian Lockwood
11. The ethics of secrecy in donor insemination Heather Widdows
Part III. First and Second Trimester: 12. Ethical and social aspects of evaluating fetal screening Elina Hemminki
13. Prenatal counseling and images of disability Priscilla Alderson
14. Models of motherhood in the abortion debate Eileen McDonagh
15. Who owns embryonic and fetal tissue? Donna Dickenson
16. The fewer the better? Ethical issues in multiple gestation Mary Mahowald
Part IV. Third Trimester: 17. Caesarean section - who chooses, the woman or her doctor? Wendy Savage
18. Compliance and non-compliance of pregnant women with doctors' preferences Susan Sherwin and Françoise Baylis
Part V. Neonatal Life: 19. Do new reproductive technologies benefit or harm children? Christine Overall
20. Are there lives not worth living? Severe handicap and the 'worthless life' Rebecca Bennett and John Harris
21. Ethical issues in withdrawing life-sustaining treatment from handicapped neonates Neil McIntosh
Index.

Subject Areas: Medicolegal issues [MBQ], Medical ethics & professional conduct [MBDC], Medicine: general issues [MB]