[Is the information we give women prior to invasive prenatal procedures adequate?]

The aim was to evaluate the psychological impact on women undergoing invasive procedures of prenatal diagnosis.

Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 1st Medical Faculty, Charles University, Prague.

A questionnaire was given to 200 pregnant women and to 160 midwives and students. The acquired data were statistically evaluated using the non-parametric chi 2 test for a 5% confidence interval and the Kruskal-Wallis test (analysis of non-normal distribution of random variables).

We found that 85% of pregnant patients were satisfied with the information given by their obstetrician prior to the procedure, 53% of the patients were distressed about the procedure. The largest percentage of patients feared complications of the procedure, while fear of the results of the procedure took second place.

We found that only some of the patients and midwives had complete information about the actual method of performing these procedures, about the risk, and about the time it takes to obtain results. Most patients receive their information from a doctor-geneticist, which is in agreement with our system. The patient's distress regarding the procedure is not dependent on the level of education. From the acquired data, it follows that greater significance should be placed on the informing patients as well as midwives about all aspects of performing invasive procedure of prenatal diagnosis. According to our study, neither the patient nor the midwife have an adequate perception of the benefits and risk of prenatal diagnostic examinations.