Impact of decision-making in a multidisciplinary perinatal team

Objectives (1) To describe the characteristics of decision-making about management of unborn infants with serious anomalies by a multidisciplinary perinatal team. (2) To evaluate the impact of multidisciplinary team discussions on the degree to which decisions about the management of unborn infants with serious anomalies are supported. (3) To evaluate the impact of the team discussions on the arguments used by physicians for their preferences concerning management. Methods Prospective analysis of 78 cases discussed within the multidisciplinary perinatal team of a tertiary centre by means of an anonymous one-page questionnaire with structured questions pertaining to the opinion of the responder on medical management of each case. Results We did not find systematic differences between specialties prior to the discussion of cases. However, discussion with the multidisciplinary perinatal team improved decision-making about management of unborn infants with serious anomalies by enhancing the degree of support for the decisions taken. The discussions of the team did not change the physicians' arguments mentioned for their preferences. Conclusion Multidisciplinary team discussions improve decision-making about management of unborn infants with serious congenital anomalies. Copyright (C) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.