Is the Information We Provide to Pregnant Women beforeInvasive Prenatal Examination Suffi cient?

Overview

Background:
The aim was to evaluate the psychological impact on women undergoing invasiveprocedures of prenatal diagnosis.Setting: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 1st Medical Faculty, Charles University, Prague.Material and Methods: A questionnaire was given to 200 pregnant women and to 160 midwivesand students. The acquired data were statistically evaluated using the non-parametric χ2 testfor a 5% confi dence interval and the Kruskal-Wallis test (analysis of non-normal distribution ofrandom variables).Results: We found that 85% of pregnant patients were satisfi ed with the information given bytheir obstetrician prior to the procedure, 53% of the patients were distressed about the procedure.results of the procedure took second place.Conclusion: We found that only some of the patients and midwives had complete informationabout the actual method of performing these procedures, about the risk, and about the time ittakes to obtain results. Most patients receive their information from a doctor-geneticist, which isin agreement with our system. The patient’s distress regarding the procedure is not dependenton the level of education. From the acquired data, it follows that greater signifi cance should beplaced on the informing patients as well as midwives about all aspects of performing invasiveprocedure of prenatal diagnosis. According to our study, neither the patient nor the midwife havean adequate perception of the benefi ts and risk of prenatal diagnostic examinations.

Key words:
prenatal diagnosis, invasive procedures, maternal anxiety, patient information, midwives