This morning I went to an ethical discussion with the minor students. The topic was, among other things, the consideration of lowering the gestational age for admitting a newborn to the NICU from 24 weeks of pregnancy to 23. At the moment, all premature babies born before 24 weeks of gestation are left to their fate and die. Between the 24th and 26th week, parents are allowed to decide in consultation with neonatologists and gynaecologists whether they want comfort care, i.e. the most comfortable atmosphere possible, but palliative option for their baby. The alternative is active support, where the doctors and nurses in the NICU do everything they can to save the baby. 90% of parents in the Netherlands choose the second option. We also talked about the artificial womb. What sounds like science fiction has been in the sights of researchers for several years and has already been performed on lambs. Actually, it is not really a womb, but rather a fluid-filled cavity, as well as a kind of ECMO as an artificial placenta. In the future, it will be used to provide a more natural atmosphere for extremely premature babies to mature, as oxygen can still be very toxic for premature lungs.
After the discussion, I spent some time analysing the data and left earlier today to meet my grandparents for dinner.
A lamb in the artificial "womb" in the US.
Picture source: https://www.farmersjournal.ie/watch-lambs-grown-successfully-in-artificial-womb-272776
Dinner of today.
Our dog Debbie.
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