Table 1 Recurrent themes and their elaborations
Theme | Elaboration |
|---|---|
The ethical basis of parental informed consent for neonatal research | The ethical reasons put forward for the importance of gaining parental consent for neonatal research |
Validity of parental consent | Discussion of the requirements to be met if parental consent given is to be viewed as genuine informed consent |
Other options for gaining consent | Discussion of different possible methods for gaining consent |
Risk and the double-standard between consent for treatment and consent for research | The ethically defensible level of risk to which a neonate undertaking research might be exposed and comparisons with the approach to risk and consent in treatment |