Churches Welcome Nuffield Report on Disabled Newborns

The Church of England and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales have welcomed the report of the Nuffield Council on the treatment of extremely disabled or premature newborns.

Nuffield's report on the 'Critical care decisions in fetal and neonatal medicine: Ethical issues', published today, recommended that babies born before or at 22 weeks should not be routinely resuscitated or receive intensive care.

The report was drawn up by the Nuffield Council in response to the increasing number of extremely premature babies being born in the UK. It said it was "extremely rare" for babies born before 22 weeks to survive as only around 1 per cent of babies born at this age survive to leave hospital.

Professor Margaret Brazier, who led the committee that produced the guidelines, said: "Natural instincts are to try to save all babies, even if the baby's chances of survival are low. However, we don't think it is always right to put a baby through the stress and pain of invasive treatment if the baby is unlikely to get any better and death is inevitable."

The Rt Rev Tom Butler, Bishop of Southwark, and the Most Rev Peter Smith, Catholic Archbishop of Cardiff, released a joint statement today on behalf of the Church of England House of Bishops and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

In the statement, the two church leaders welcomed Nuffield Council's recommendation that "the active ending of life of newborn babies should not be allowed, no matter how serious their condition," which they said reaffirmed the validity of existing laws prohibiting euthanasia.