Nursing Care After Neonatal Death

A neonatal death is a death that occurs within the first month of life. According to the National Vital Statistics Reports, 19,000 babies in America die during this time period. It is a time of great pain for the parents. These deaths often occur in a hospital setting, and often at the time of birth. Conscientious nursing care can help the grieving and healing cycle of the suffering parents.

Parent Information

• It is very important, when providing nursing care after neonatal death, to give the parents as much information about the situation as they want. Give parents a basic idea of what will happen. Tell them that the hospital will hold the baby until a funeral home can be notified and give them information regarding bereavement and counseling organizations. Do not offer details unless the parents requests them. If asked, speak plainly and gently.

Parent/Baby Bonding

• Some parents may wish to forge a bond with their deceased child before its removal. Allow parents to hold the child, give them time to connect. Many hospitals offer memento packages of the baby's life as part of their nursing procedure, including a lock of hair and a digital photograph of the child. Some parents might find these mementos too disturbing. Gently ask the parents what their wishes are, let them dictate the course of the contact with their child. If they wish to see the child, prepare them by telling them what the baby will look and feel like.

Care of the body

• Once the child has passed, the nurse will weigh and measure the child's body. She will also wash the child, dress and swaddle it. At this point she will give the child to the parents, if they wish. When they are ready to say goodbye, the nurse will deliver the baby to the morgue, along with a placenta specimen, usually to a special area reserved for neonatal death.

Paper Work

• A child that is stillborn or dies shortly after its birth still must be given a birth certificate. The child must also be pronounced dead by a doctor or other appropriate authority and given a death certificate. It is also some hospital's procedure to alert a counseling organization for the parent's comfort, such as The March of Dimes, who have departments that specialize in neonatal death. A nurse is also usually responsible for putting identification on the baby, requesting and filling out a consent for autopsy, and filling out the hospital's death report.

Autopsy

• Autopsies are used to determine the cause of the baby's death. Not all parents will consent to an autopsy, but many will be interested in having the information an autopsy provides. Other tests done with the autopsy or instead of one, include X-rays, genetic tests, and tests of the placenta and umbilical cord. Doctors usually meet with the parents after the tests are performed, usually about a month, to discuss the results.