Emotional and Cognitive Experiences of Pregnant Women Following Prenatal Diagnosis of Fetal Anomalies: A Qualitative Study in Iran

Morvarid Irani, Morvarid Irani and Talat Khadivzadeh, Talat Khadivzadeh and Seyyed Mohsen Asghari Nekah, Seyyed Mohsen Asghari Nekah and Hosein Ebrahimipour, Hosein Ebrahimipour and Fatemeh Tara, Fatemeh Tara (2019) Emotional and Cognitive Experiences of Pregnant Women Following Prenatal Diagnosis of Fetal Anomalies: A Qualitative Study in Iran. International Journal of Community Based Nursing and Midwifery, 7 (1). pp. 22-31. ISSN pISSN: 2322-2476 eISSN: 2322-4835

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Abstract

Background: Pregnant women are often ill-prepared for the health of their unborn child in the case
of abnormal findings, and experience several difficulties following the detection of fetal anomalies.
Therefore, this study was conducted to explore the emotional and cognitive experiences of pregnant
women following prenatal diagnosis of fetal anomalies in Mashhad, Iran.
Methods: This qualitative conventional content analysis study was designed through two referral
centers for fetal anomaly. The data were collected from April 2017 to January 2018 in Mashhad (Iran)
through individual semi-structured in-depth interviews, from 25 pregnant women with a prenatal
diagnosis of fetal anomalies.
Results: Four categories and 10 subcategories emerged. Category one, grief reactions during the time
of diagnosis, contained two subcategories: shocked and panicked, and distressed and disbelieved.
Category two, perinatal loss through a pregnancy termination, contained four subcategories: guilt and
shame during pregnancy termination, loss of their expected child, suffering and emotional distress
process, and unmet needs by health professionals. Category three, fears of recurrence in future
pregnancies, had two subcategories: worried about inadequate prenatal care in the future pregnancies
and worried about abnormal fetus in next pregnancies. Finally, Category four, a dilemma between
hope and worries contained two subcategories: hope for normality and worried about future.
Conclusion: It is important to monitor emotional reactions of women following prenatal anomaly
diagnosis. So, training clinicians and health-care professionals for proper response to grief reaction in
post therapeutic abortion is essential.
Keywords: Cognition, Emotional, Fetal anomaly, Pregnant women, Prenatal diagnosis

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Cognition, Emotional, Fetal anomaly, Pregnant women, Prenatal diagnosis
Subjects:	R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
Divisions:	Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences > School of Medicine
Depositing User:	Mrs Ni Made Yunia Dwi Savitri
Date Deposited:	04 Jul 2022 00:44
Last Modified:	04 Jul 2022 00:44
URI:	http://eprints.triatmamulya.ac.id/id/eprint/1241

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