Aim: To determine and describe the experiences of pregnant women who receive a diagnosis of chromosomopathy and/or foetal malformation during a prenatal check-up and who decide to legally terminate the pregnancy.
Background: When a pregnancy is terminated, the woman must cope with frustrated motherhood. The psychological consequences of this will largely depend on the care and support provided by health professionals. When a congenital anomaly is diagnosed, a patient-centred communication helps understanding, influences adaptation to the new situation and ensures the person concerned has sufficient (autonomy or independence or ability) to make appropriate decisions.
Methods: A qualitative study, based on a phenomenological approach, was carried out through nonparticipant observation and semi-structured interviews with 27 obstetric patients. NVivo 11 software was used, and content analysis was performed. The manuscript was developed using the COREQ guidelines to inform qualitative studies.
Results: The clinical relationship may be affected by communication problems such as patients' perceptions of scarce emotional involvement by obstetricians, by poor psychosocial support during the termination of the pregnancy and by insufficient follow-up after discharge.
Conclusion: Nurses are in a privileged position to promote the empowerment of affected women. It is necessary to improve aspects related to the privacy of patients and the awareness and training of the interdisciplinary team in interpersonal communication. Post-loss follow-up is recommended to assess individual needs, thus facilitating an optimal approach to ease the grieving process.
Relevance to clinical practice: During the prenatal diagnosis, the existence of a fetal anomaly is emphasized, but support and follow up of the mother may be neglected; therefore, exhaustive knowledge about the obstetric history, the state of health and the expectations of patients is as important as a multidisciplinary team trained in counseling strategies and with a comprehensive care plan that covers all areas, especially those that control maternal emotions.
Keywords: congenital abnormalities; eugenic abortions; genetic counselling; nurse-patient relations; pregnancy; qualitative research.
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.