Carmen, I had exactly the same situation when I worked in Saudi Arabia and
we did exactly as your maternity nurses are requesting. All I can say is,
the relatives were consoled by the sight of their offspring, even if it was
not an ideal situation. Sometimes they time they would take the fetus to
bury it, otherwise the hospital took care of that. I felt that we met their
needs so that was all that really mattered. We also did this occasionally in
a hospital I worked at in the USA.

Tim Morken
Atlanta, USA


----Original Message Follows----
From: Buttigieg Carmen at MOH <carmen.a.buttigieg@magnet.mt>
To: histonet@pathology.swmed.edu
Subject: Foetuses
Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2000 14:06:00 +0100

Histonetters

Here in Malta, I work in the only major hospital there is, which is run by
the
Government. We need to set up a policy regarding access to foetuses. We have
had
requests from the Maternity wards to allow parents to take pictures of the
foetuses which have been in formalin. They are not a pretty sight.
Their request is, that we allow a nurse to dress up the foetus, leaving just
the
face and hands showing. Then the nurse takes the foetus to the parents who
would
take the photo.
Are these things allowed in your hospitals?
Is it the logical thing to do?
Is it humane?

Please, I need some feedback.

Carmen
St. Luke's Hospital
Malta


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