Family planning decisions after prenatal detection of fetal abnormalities.
OBJECTIVE
Our purpose was to assess the family planning decisions made by women found to be carrying fetuses with chromosome abnormalities or neural tube defects.


METHODS
We studied the family planning decisions of 132 women carrying fetuses with chromosome abnormalities (n = 91) or neural tube defects (n = 41) with regard to prenatal diagnosis, pregnancy management decision, patient's gravidity, and maternal and gestational age.


RESULTS
Twenty women (17 carrying fetuses with chromosome abnormalities and 3 with fetal neural tube defects) elected permanent sterilization after completion of the affected pregnancy. Only maternal age and fetal chromosome abnormalities were associated with a decision to obtain permanent sterilization.


CONCLUSIONS
Most women carrying fetuses with chromosome abnormalities or neural tube defects will not choose permanent sterilization after completion of the pregnancy. Delaying such decisions until resolution of grief and depression is now facilitated by the availability of safe, reliable, and relatively long-term reversible contraceptive agents.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Tennessee, Memphis 38103-2896.
L P
LP
Shulman
C
C
Grevengood
O P
OP
Phillips
S J
SJ
Gross
P C
PC
Mace
S
S
Elias
D000328:Adult; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations / Q000175:diagnosis*; D025063:Chromosome Disorders; D003267:Contraception; D005193:Family Planning Services; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D013245:Sterilization, Reproductive