Community Perceptions of Postmortem Examination and Minimally Invasive Tissue Sampling in Neonates:a Qualitative Study in South India

Background: Postmortem examination is the gold standard for establishing the cause of death. Minimally Invasive Tissue Sampling (MITS) of organs is a novel approach that can be used as an alternative to postmortem examination. In this study, the community perceptions in two states in South India towards neonatal postmortem and the acceptance towards the MITS technique is studied.

Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted among the participants from Kerala and Karnataka to understand the perception towards postmortem and the acceptance of the novel MITS technique. The interviews were audio recorded, and a thematic analysis was done to identify the overarching themes and codes.

Results: The knowledge and attitude of participants on conventional and MITS postmortem techniques, reasons for refusal, and the need for raising awareness were identified in the study. Participants favored the MITS techniques as it was less disfiguring and less time-consuming. The major concerns for refusal of conventional postmortem were that the procedure was disfiguring, time-consuming, and caused emotional stress to the parents.

Conclusions: Participants favored the MITS approach over conventional postmortem as it caused less disfigurement and was conducive to the religious practice of burial of the body.