Objective: To provide an in-depth account of the role feticide has relative to experiences of late termination of pregnancy (TOP).
Method: Exploratory qualitative interview study. Participants were recruited from three National Health Service (NHS) units that provide secondary and tertiary level fetal medicine services. Data were collected from 36 in-depth interviews, with 12 parents (representing eight cases) who had experienced late TOP for fetal anomaly and 23 health professionals with experience of feticide provision. The qualitative analysis utilised a generative thematic approach, facilitated by Atlas.ti qualitative software package.
Results: Two key themes from the study provide data on how perceptions of feticide were described by those involved in late TOP: (1) feticide is recognised and described as a legitimate clinical procedure and (2) the practice of feticide is conceptualised as difficult but necessary.
Conclusion: For health professionals who provide and facilitate feticide, and for parents making decisions about late TOP and feticide, the procedure is understood as a necessary rather than chosen activity. Parents' perceptions of feticide may differ, and good clinical care must be designed to cope with this variation. For health professionals, feticide seems more readily distinguished from other types of TOP activities and may evoke simultaneous positive and negative perceptions.