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To know or not to know – parents’ attitudes to and preferences for prenatal diagnosis

På svenska

Author

  • Maria Ekelin
  • Linda Persson
  • Adina Välimäki
  • Elizabeth Crang Svalenius

Summary, in English

Objective: To highlight expectant parents’ attitudes concerning prenatal diagnosis, what the parents wish to know and what they chose not to know about their unborn baby, also in what form and to what extent they wish for prenatal diagnosis. Background: Parents have to make decisions concerning prenatal diagnosis. Screening programmes change rapidly and there is a need for parental influence on this development. Methods: An interview study with 10 women in late pregnancy and six partners. Results: The main categories ‘A time for preparation’ and ‘A lot but not everything’ included the parents’ positive attitudes towards prenatal diagnosis, especially if it could be carried out in early pregnancy and was of help for the baby, but also their negative attitudes toward information about possible future diseases that could not be prevented and towards invasive diagnosis. The parents had confidence in the caregivers’ offers of screening programmes, but described their own attitudes as changing from before pregnancy, when newly pregnant and after their ultrasound examination. The parents described themselves as partly lacking knowledge about what the existing options for prenatal diagnosis involved. Conclusions: There is a great need for competent caregivers to inform the parents-to-be about the different methods for fetal diagnosis available to them and also what information the different methods can give. Partners need to be involved in the decision-making process.

Publishing year

2016

Language

English

Pages

356-369

Publication/Series

Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology

Volume

34

Issue

4

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Topic

  • Health Sciences

Keywords

  • attitudes
  • information
  • parents
  • preferences
  • Prenatal diagnosis

Status

Published

Project

  • Promoting early childhood health; supporting parents, vulnerable children and challenged families
  • LUC3 - Lund University Child Centered Care

Research group

  • Child and Family Health

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0264-6838