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Background: Caring for parents continuing pregnancy after learning about a severe life-limiting condition in their unborn is challenging. Most existing studies focus on affected families, whereas research on the subjective experience of care professionals is scarce. Aim: We aimed to (1) explore experiences and needs of involved care professionals, (2) obtain information about existing care structures, and (3) identify requirements for a structured perinatal palliative care program. Design: Grounded Theory study using theoretical sampling. Data was collected by semi-structured interviews and analyzed following the principles of grounded theory coding and situational analysis. Setting: A total of 18 professionals from 12 different services in Munich and surroundings participated in the study: 8 physicians, 3 midwives, 2 nurses, 1 each pregnancy counselor, grief counselor, chaplain, clinical psychologist, and undertaker. Results: Several organizations provide support for affected parents, but inter-institutional communication is scarce. Due to the lack of a dedicated perinatal palliative care program, professionals make immense and partly unpaid efforts to support concerned parents. Providers experience "collateral beauty" in their work despite all the suffering and grief. This includes the development of a humble attitude and feelings of gratitude toward life, the feeling of having a meaningful task and professional as well as personal growth. Requirements for a structured perinatal palliative care program include: fostering peer support, ensuring regular supervision, and enhancing interdisciplinary exchange. Conclusions: Perinatal palliative care demands a high level of personal engagement but is experienced as highly rewarding by care professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Germany, research on experiences and care pathways of parents continuing pregnancy after a life-limiting fetal diagnosis is scarce. There are several recommendations but few structured programs. We aimed to explore experiences and needs of parents, reconstruct their care pathways, and identify requirements for a perinatal palliative care program. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 mothers and 9 fathers and analyzed data using the Saldaña's Coding Method. Codes were organized in templates to reconstruct care pathways. Pathways started with a suspicious finding prompting a referral to prenatal diagnostics. Parents experienced severe emotional distress during prenatal diagnostics due to scarce information, insensitiveness, and a perceived pressure towards abortion. As a result, they overlooked referrals to psychosocial counseling, generating a care gap. Most parents reached the decision to continue pregnancy without professional support. They then chose a trusted midwife or gynecologist as main caregiver during pregnancy. There were no regular referrals to palliative care, which mainly became relevant when the child survived. Our data indicate that a perinatal palliative care program requires early and comprehensive information, sensitivity, and a non-directive approach. Already existing support services need to be identified and connected through structured pathways, with a particular focus on midwives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Advance care discussions (ACD) between health care professionals (HCPs) and parents of children with a life-limiting disease are a core element of successful pediatric advance care planning (pACP). Yet, they are perceived as a challenging situation for all participants. Objectives: Our goal was to investigate the first step of ACD and identify its challenges and helpful communication strategies to develop a conversation guide for initiating the pACP process and structure the conversational opening. Methods: We performed a participant observation of 11 initial ACD and 24 interviews with 13 HCPs and 20 parents of 11 children cared for by 3 different palliative care teams in southern Germany. Qualitative data collection was supplemented by a questionnaire. Content analysis and conversation analysis were used for evaluation. Results: Parents and HCPs start the process with different expectations, which can lead to misunderstandings and confusion. HCPs gain parental cooperation when they express the purpose of the meeting clearly and early, provide structure and guidance, and give parents time to talk about their experiences and feelings. Addressing dying and death is hard for both sides and requires a sensitive approach. Conclusions: Initiating ACD is extremely challenging for all participants. HCPs and parents should clarify expectations and aims at the beginning of the conversation. Future research should focus on how HCPs can be trained for this task and how the right timing for introducing ACD to families can be identified. Clinical Trial Registration number 049-12 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]