Delivery room hospice.

Advances in perinatal science over the past five decades have reduced the practical 'threshold of viability' by approximately one week every 10 years such that survivors are expected as early as 22 weeks. Ethical standards regarding treatment of this periviable patient population remain enigmatic. CONCLUSION: We review limitations in the current ethical rationale for caring for these infants in the delivery room and introduce an alternative utilising a delivery room hospice care approach involving the administration of opioids.