An analysis of physician-parent communication in pediatric prenatal interviews

Thirty-three prenatal interviews done in the offices of four practicing pediatricians were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for content by two separate methods. Interviews with the individual pediatricians varied markedly in length and were significantly longer if the father was present. Pediatricians took charge of the interviews by asking more questions than parents and by talking twice as much as parents. A relatively small number of topics (medical care of the infant, infant feeding, business aspects of the pediatrician's practice, and history of the current pregnancy) occupied a majority of the interview time. Although interviews with individual pediatricians tended to include a standard set of topics, any given visit was individualized to address parents' issues. Follow-up interviews with mothers showed that they were highly satisfied with the visits and perceived the doctors as having been warm and friendly. Mothers' highly favorable reactions were achieved in spite of the fact that interview style was generally doctor-active/parent-passive, indicating that, in some medical settings, this approach may be quite appropriate.