Enhanced communication between maternal-fetal medicine (MFM)/obstetrics and neonatology regarding counseling at extreme prematurity remains an essential element of prenatal consultations. Together, the obstetrician and neonatologist can collaborate to provide timely and synergistic information to affected couples during a dynamic period, combining their expertise to elucidate values and formulate a plan that best supports the pregnant person and partner’s goals. Such collaboration can help resolve differing perspectives between specialties, minimize redundancy and inconsistencies, and mitigate the impact of clinician bias. Best practices for joint-specialty collaboration include a precounseling clinician huddle, contemporaneous counseling by MFM specialists/obstetricians and neonatologists with the expectant parents or individualized sequential counseling if preferred by the couple, and a postcounseling clinician debrief. This approach can help establish a trusting relationship with families facing possible extremely preterm delivery and optimize the overall counseling experience. Future efforts focused on education and research, including a standardized approach to educational curricula among fellowship programs, should be emphasized.
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March 2023
Research Article|
March 01 2023
Collaboration between Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Neonatology When Counseling at Extreme Prematurity
Anne Sullivan, MD;
Anne Sullivan, MD
*Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA
‡Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
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Bridget Donovan;
Bridget Donovan
†Department of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA
§Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
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Brett C. Young, MD, FACOG;
Brett C. Young, MD, FACOG
†Department of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA
§Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
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Christy Cummings, MD
Christy Cummings, MD
*Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA
‡Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
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Neoreviews (2023) 24 (3): e137–e143.
Citation
Anne Sullivan, Bridget Donovan, Brett C. Young, Christy Cummings; Collaboration between Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Neonatology When Counseling at Extreme Prematurity. Neoreviews March 2023; 24 (3): e137–e143. https://doi.org/10.1542/neo.24-3-e137
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