Reactions of mothers and medical professionals to a film about Down syndrome.
Parents, genetic counselors, and nurses were shown an 18-minute video-taped discussion involving parents of persons with Down syndrome and were asked to complete an evaluation. Some of the statistically significant differences were as follows: 89% of mothers believed that the film was an accurate portrayal of parental attitudes compared with 14% of the genetic counselors and 40% of the nurses; 48% of genetic counselors believed that problems outweigh the benefits in parenting a child with Down syndrome, but 94% of mothers and 83% of nurses thought that the benefits predominated; and 56% of genetic counselors believed that parents of a child with Down syndrome would choose to abort a subsequent affected fetus while only 8% of parents and 10% of nurses agreed. It is important that medical professionals have a balanced and accurate view of the impact of Down syndrome on families.
Cooley
W C
WC
Department of Maternal and Child Health, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH 03756.
Graham
E S
ES
Moeschler
J B
JB
Graham
J M
JM
D000028:Abortion, Induced; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis; D005817:Genetic Counseling; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D009726:Nurses; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D014743:Videotape Recording