‘I’m sorry, but the diagnosis is as we feared, would you like us to proceed with palliative treatment?’
This is the news that we as doctors dread to deliver and that our patients dread to receive. So what happens when you have to say this to the parents of a one-day old baby, seemingly entirely healthy aside from a distinct bluish tinge around the toes and fingers? When are we able to suggest that their baby is unlikely to live a happy fulfilled life, so it is probably best that we just keep her comfortable and let her slip away before it becomes too hard?
