Comprehensive 4-month Perinatal Palliative Care Course
Patch Academy offers a 4-month long online comprehensive certificate course on PERINTATAL PALLIATIVE CARE to run from 1 August – 30 November 2026. The course is coordinated by PatchSA’s Education & Training Manager, Tracy Rawlins.
CPD Points
The course offers 30 CPD points (25 General & 5 Ethics) from the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA) for those registered with the HPCSA.
Topics covered in the course
- Compassionate communication and holding difficult conversations
- Ethics & shared decision making
- Psychosocial and spiritual care for families and babies before birth, at the time of birth, and after birth
- Physical care of the mother and baby at the time of birth
- Pain and symptom management for the newborn baby
- Memory & legacy making
- Bereavement support for families after the death of a baby
- Self-care and managing conflict
Who should do the course?
The course is appropriate for and open to all those who care for pregnant mothers and their newborn infants. This could include but is not restricted to doctors, OBGYNs, midwives, nurses, sonographers, genetic counsellors, therapists, etc.
The course is open to people living in South Africa as well as countries within sub–Saharan Africa and around the world. We welcome international students.
“Dying is difficult…. the beginning is not supposed to be the end.”
This documentary explores the experiences of three Cape Town based families and professionals involved in the care of neonates with life-threatening or life-limiting conditions.
Caring for a baby with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition is challenging for parents and professionals alike. The journey starts at different points for each family and may follow a unique path with often unforeseen obstacles along the way. The sense of isolation and helplessness felt by many parents when their baby is first diagnosed with a life-limiting condition can be reduced by the timely provision of palliative care services.
Many lessons can be learnt from the sharing of experiences and families who may find themselves in a similar situation may be better equipped to deal with the challenges that lie ahead. This video also aims to raise awareness among professionals of the palliative care needs of families of newborns diagnosed in the perinatal period with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions.
If you have any specific questions or would like to find out more about Children’s Palliative Care in South Africa, please email us at info@patchsa.org
Perinatal Palliative Care Book
Perinatal Palliative Care: A guide to supporting families when a baby is at high risk of dying before or shortly after birth is a helpful and easy to read guide written for midwives, nurses, doctors, social workers, psychologists, counsellors, spiritual leaders, therapists and anyone who interacts with and provides care for pregnant mothers and families when the expected baby is likely to die before or soon after birth.
The first of its kind on perinatal palliative care written for a South African audience, the book has been authored by an experienced multidisciplinary team of experts working within the field of children’s palliative care led by Sister Tracy Rawlins, a professional nurse and the Education and Training Manager at PatchSA.
Topics covered within the book include:
- Introduction to Perinatal Palliative Care
- Providing palliative care in the antenatal period
- Care and support during labour and immediately after delivery
- Care and support during the neonatal period.
Perinatal & Neonatal Palliative Care Online Course
What does the Perinatal and Neonatal Palliative Care online course cover?
Perinatal palliative care encompasses holistic care of the fetus or newborn baby diagnosed with a life-limiting condition either in pregnancy or soon after delivery and includes providing support to the parents, siblings, and other close family members. It requires timely decision-making, planning and a focus on improving their quality of life through a continuum of care from diagnosis, through death and into the bereavement period. The modules and topics within this course include:
- Introduction to perinatal palliative care
- Providing palliative care in the antenatal period
- Care and support during labour and immediately after delivery
- Care and support during the neonatal period
- Key considerations in perinatal palliative care
The course is accredited with a total of 8 CPD points being 4 General and 4 Ethics points from the Colleges of Medicine in South Africa – CMSA.