Focusing on life, and not entirely on death, is a major objective of neonatal palliative care. In addition to addressing any pain or discomfort the newborn may experience, the palliative care team will do what it can to ensure the newborn's life is a positive experience for the parents and siblings.
The team will help plan for the parents to have the opportunity to parent their baby. This could be through cuddling, breast feeding, diapering, or dressing the baby. Some neonatal ICUs teach parents how to massage their newborn to ease pain or discomfort.