Materials

Issue 88: Hinrichsen, K. hg: Sterben und Schwangerschaft. Mit Beiträgen von M. Bissegger, K. Hinrichsen, E. Reichelt, H.-M. Sass, K.-E. Siegel, I. Wolf. 1st edition: January 1994; 3rd edition: June 1994

DYING AND PREGNANCY. Gaby Siegel had been diagnosed brain-death shortly after a sudden and unexpected breakdown in July 1991 and three month prior to the birth of her healthy son Max. Gaby's and Max's fascinating story was discussed at an interdisciplinary workshop at the MEDICA symposium in November 1993. This is the first publication reviewing the successful results of medical and ethical challenges of intensive care for brain-death pregnant women. It contains the presentations of Ernst Joachim Reichelt MD, the attending physician, Monica Bissegger, the music therapist, Inge Wolf MD, an gynecologist, Prof. Hans-Martin Sass PhD, a bioeticist, and Prof. Klaus Hinrichsen MD, an embryologist, who chaired the workshop. Dr. Reichelt and Ms Bissegger give a detailed inside look into their clinical and therapeutical experiences and complex challenges in intensive care and music therapy. Inge Wolf discusses gynecological and ethical issues while Hans-Martin Sass calls for a Conscience Clause in Advance Directives and in Brain Death Criteria which should allow to "opt out" of otherwise inflexible medical-ethical instruments. Klaus Hinrichsen, the Director of the Bochum Center of Medical Ethics, reflects in his introductory remarks on dilemmas arising from conflicts between care for the dying and care for the unborn. Karl-Eugen Siegel, Gaby's husband and Max' father, who attended the MEDICA workshop, contributes concluding remarks.