Interests and neonates: there is more to the story than we explicitly acknowledge

D Micah Hester

doi:10.1007/s11017-007-9048-7

Interests and neonates: there is more to the story than we explicitly acknowledge

Theor Med Bioeth. 2007;28(5):357-72. doi: 10.1007/s11017-007-9048-7.

Author

D Micah Hester¹

Affiliation

¹ Division of Medical Humanities, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St., #646, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA. hesterdm@uams.edu

PMID: 17985107
DOI: 10.1007/s11017-007-9048-7

Abstract

Although there are many different moral arguments concerning the use of Best Interests in neonatal decision-making, there seems in practice a firm commitment to application of the concept. And yet, there is still little reflection given by practitioners about what employing a Best Interest determination means in infant care. The following lays out a comprehensive taxonomy of interest-sources in order to provide for more robust considerations of what constitutes best interests of/for neonates.

MeSH terms

Child Advocacy* / ethics
Decision Making* / ethics
Dissent and Disputes
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Moral Obligations*
Neonatology / ethics*
Parent-Child Relations*