Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

10-2-2019

Publication Title

Religion and Ethics in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Publisher Name

Oxford University Press

Abstract

Roman Catholics comprise the largest single denomination in the United States and are the nation’s largest group of not-for-profit healthcare providers. Yet, there is little or no available literature to assist neonatal caregivers in understanding how religious beliefs and values might influence parents’ responses to the challenges posed by their newborn’s care. Equally, there is little or no available literature on the academic or pastoral side addressing questions of neonatal medicine from a theological perspective. This chapter addresses how Roman Catholic teachings might affect the ways in which parents and caregivers make treatment decisions. It examines the neonatal context in light of five aspects of Catholic teaching—the dignity of the human person, patient decision making, withholding and withdrawing treatment, palliative care, and Catholic social thought—as well as three important Catholic practices—baptism, the anointing of the sick, and the care of babies’ bodies, living and dead.

Identifier

ISBN-13: 9780190636852

Comments

Author Posting © Oxford University Press, 2019. This article is posted here by permission of Oxford University Press for personal use, not for redistribution. The article was published in Religion and Ethics in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, October 2019, doi.org/10.1093/med/9780190636852.003.0003

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