Attitudes towards perinatal postmortem examinations (PMs), especially in the context of clinical trials, have been explored in a series of articles.

There is concern about falling PM rates both in general and in perinatal pathology. Perinatal PMs are seen as having particular advantages in that they might provide genetic information for parents and by clarifying the cause of death might also provide ‘closure’. They are also useful for audit and research. When babies in clinical trials die, asking for consent for PM may be seen as more difficult because it might be interpreted as being of benefit only to the trial rather than to the parents. Added to that the whole subject of …