Glossary of Diagnoses and Terminology

The answers you desire with the compassion you deserve. Here you will find comprehensive information about congenital anomalies — written for families experiencing the emotional complexities of the diagnosis.

Life-limiting

Life-limiting is used to describe a prenatal diagnosis that is without cure and is expected to result in the death of a baby during the perinatal period. Not all life-limiting conditions result in death during the perinatal period, as some prenatal diagnosis of life-limiting conditions can have widely varying lifespans; however, this term is used to differentiate between prenatal diagnoses that are ultimately fatal (anencephaly, trisomy 13, trisomy 18) and diagnoses that impact the quality of the baby’s life but not necessarily the duration of the baby’s life (trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) and spina bifida). [39]