Objective:
To integrate the findings of qualitative studies of expectant parents receiving positive
prenatal diagnosis.
Data Sources:
Seventeen published and unpublished reports appearing between 1984 and 2001 and retrieved
between December of 2002 and March of 2003. The electronic databases searched include
Academic Search Elite, AIDS Information Online (AIDSLINE), Anthropological Index Online,
Anthropological Literature, Black Studies, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied
Health Literature (CINAHL), Digital Dissertations, Dissertation Abstracts Index (DAI),
Educational Resource Information Center (ERIC), MEDLINE, PsycInfo, Public Affairs
Information Service (PAIS), PubMed, Social Science Abstracts (SocSci Abstracts), Social
Science Citation Index, Social Work Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts (Sociofile),
Women’s Resources International, and Women’s Studies.
Study Selection:
Qualitative studies involving expectant parents living in the United States of any
race, ethnicity, nationality, or class who learned during any time in pregnancy of
any fetal impairment by any means of diagnosis were eligible for inclusion.
Data Extraction:
Metasummary techniques, including the calculation of frequency effect sizes, were
used to aggregate the findings. Metasynthesis techniques, including constant comparison
analysis and the reciprocal translation of concepts, were used to interpret the findings.
Data Synthesis:
The topical emphasis in the findings is on the termination of pregnancy following
positive diagnosis. The thematic emphasis is on the dilemmas of choice and decision
making. Positive prenatal diagnosis was for couples an experience of chosen losses
and lost choices. Couples managed information to minimize stigmatization and cognitive
dissonance.
Conclusions:
Existing guidelines for caring for couples after perinatal losses must accommodate
the chosen loss experientially defining positive prenatal diagnosis.
Keywords
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Article Info
Publication History
Accepted:
June 2004
Identification
Copyright
© 2005 AWHONN, the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
