PERINATAL AUTOPSY

Continuing our thread on autopsy from May, this issue carries papers that examine the alternatives to autopsy where consent for a full post mortem examination is not forthcoming. In their review, Wright and Lee point out that there are a number of ways in which babies may yield further important information as to why they died, and whether there was anything else the matter with them before death. But none of these approaches compares favourably with a full autopsy, and as Lyon comments, full autopsy has to remain the gold standard. Lyon goes on to remind us that we should not be coy in approaching parents for consent to autopsy. Not approaching parents deprives them of their right to have an informed discussion about the possibility of autopsy, and failing to offer …