Abstract

It would be possible to respond to Peter Barr's paper “Relation of neonatologists’ end-of-life decisions to their personal fear of death” with anger, disbelief or indifference; and it could be misunderstood as suggesting that covert euthanasia is a rampant practice in neonatal units, at least in Australasia. Neither these responses nor such a misreading would do justice to a paper that explores the personal attitudes that mediate the decision-making processes of neonatal consultants when faced with babies in whom the possibility of forgoing continued life support has become an option to be seriously considered.