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Genetic Counseling for Couples Seeking Noninvasive Prenatal Testing in Japan: Experiences of Pregnant Women and their Partners
Author(s) -
Watanabe Motoko,
Matsuo Mari,
Ogawa Masaki,
Uchiyama Toshitaka,
Shimizu Satoru,
Iwasaki Naoko,
Yamauchi Akemi,
Urano Mari,
Numabe Hironao,
Saito Kayoko
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of genetic counseling
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.867
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1573-3599
pISSN - 1059-7700
DOI - 10.1007/s10897-016-0038-7
Subject(s) - genetic counseling , medicine , family medicine , pregnancy , genetic testing , test (biology) , gynecology , public health , obstetrics , clinical psychology , nursing , paleontology , genetics , biology
The recent advent of noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) has had a significant impact in the field of prenatal testing. Although reports on pregnant women who used NIPT have accumulated, little is known about the experiences of their male partners. In this study, we assessed the experiences of couples who were expecting a child and undergoing NIPT, with a focus on both the pregnant women and their partners. Questionnaires were administered to 282 participants focusing on their specific experiences at three time points: after pre‐test counseling (first visit), when undergoing NIPT (second visit), and when results were received (third visit). Responses were analyzed to assess the differences between pregnant women and their partners. We found that more partners selected “family” as their first information source about NIPT and “my partner” as the first person to request NIPT than did pregnant women (35.6 vs. 5.9 %; p < 0.001 and 19.3 vs.1.5 %; p < 0.001). However, pregnant women more often consulted others including family and friends until undergoing NIPT than their partners (89.1 vs. 54.6 %; p < 0.001). Our findings suggest that it is important to encourage male partners to be actively involved in the NIPT decision‐making process. Differences between pregnant women and their partners should be seriously considered when providing genetic counseling.