title: [Psychological aspects of the diagnosis of chromosomal aberrations in the first trimester].
abstract: Over the past ten years, rapid and quite considerable developments have been made in antenatal screening and foetal scanning. This progress had led to the early identification of increasingly minute malformations and a more accurate diagnosis of a number of foetal pathologies. For some years now, parents have been offered the possibility of an early screening of the Down's syndrome during the 1st quarter scan. If the risk proves to be a major one for the child, the mother can have an amniocentesis to determine if a chromosomic anomaly does in actual fact exist. At the same time, as medical science advances, it is important to take into consideration the psychological impact these screening tests can have on parents and in particular mothers. The purpose of this article is to highlight the real-life experience of parents and examine the reality of parental anguish within the specific framework of 1st quarter chromosomic screening. We will also look at the role psychologists, psychiatrists and psychoanalysts are called on to play with patients and medical teams.
authors.affiliation: Service de gynécologie-obstétrique et biologie de la reproduction, CHI Poissy-St-Germain-en-Laye, 10, rue du Champ Gaillard, 78300 Poissy, France.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Teissiere
mesh_terms: D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal / Q000523:psychology