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A 1 and 6 month follow‐up of prenatal diagnosis patients who lost pregnancies
Author(s) -
Black Rita Beck
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
prenatal diagnosis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.956
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1097-0223
pISSN - 0197-3851
DOI - 10.1002/pd.1970091108
Subject(s) - medicine , pregnancy , obstetrics , distress , amniocentesis , mood , referral , chorionic villus sampling , obstetrics and gynaecology , gestation , grief , gynecology , psychiatry , fetus , prenatal diagnosis , family medicine , first trimester , clinical psychology , genetics , biology
This paper reports results of an exploratory study of prenatal diagnosis patients who experienced voluntary terminations of pregnancy following the detection of an abnormality or spontaneous miscarriages. The 121 participants were part of the national collaborative Chorionic Villus Sampling and Amniocentesis Study. They completed semi‐structured telephone interviews and mailed questionnaires at 1 month and 6 months after the pregnancy losses. Scores on the Profile of Mood States showed that mood levels improved significantly over time. However, there were some declines in loss‐related support from partners and others. The persisting distress and difficulties of a minority highlight the variability in women's responses to pregnancy losses. Women who lost pregnancies later in gestation, showed the greatest mood disturbances at initial assessments, used professional mental health assistance after the loss, or reported less satisfactory loss‐related support from significant others showed the greatest levels of mood disturbance at the six‐month assessment. Follow‐up contacts with patients who lose pregnancies should be used to inform women about the variation in possible grief reactions, to assess the extent of support the women are receiving from their partners and significant others, and to provide additional follow‐up or referral of those experiencing the greatest distress.