The Brain-Dead Mother in Intensive Care Unit: Ethics, Physiology and Management

Maternal brain death is a rare but difficult event. Ongoing somatic support of the brain-dead mother presents many clinical and ethical challenges and has a limited evidence base behind it. It is vital to consider the ethical implications and potential benefits and harms to the mother, fetus, next of kin and treating teams before embarking on a process of prolonged somatic support especially when the outcomes may not be clear. Somatic support should be conducted using a systematic physiological approach, bearing in mind and balancing the changes of pregnancy, brain death and the requirements of the fetus.