The maternal self in pregnant women undergoing maternal serum screening.
BACKGROUND
Much has been written about the anxiety of pregnant women undergoing maternal serum screening, but little has focused on the maternal self.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to explore how the maternal self was affected by abnormal results of prenatal screening. Design. A qualitative design was used, based upon a grounded theory method.


METHODS
Twenty-seven women undergoing maternal serum screening engaged in qualitative interviews about how abnormal results affected them and their family life.


RESULTS
This study identified three forms of maternal self in women who had been informed of abnormal results of maternal serum screening. The three forms of maternal self could be described as self-stigmatizing, self-conflicting and self-knowledgeable.


CONCLUSIONS
The self-stigmatizing and self-conflicting resulted from painful body image. The pregnant women responded to this vulnerability by reflecting on their experiences and constituting self-knowledgeable.


CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrated that ethical issues were implicit in prenatal counselling in terms of various forms of maternal self. Understanding the self-perceptions of pregnant women coping with an increased risk of Down Syndrome could be very significant in delivering prenatal genetic counselling.
Chiang
Hsien-Hsien
HH
Department and Institute of Nursing, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Chao
Yuh-Mei Y
YM
Yuh
Yeong-Seng
YS
D000032:Abortion, Therapeutic / Q000523:psychology; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D005817:Genetic Counseling; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology*; D033261:Maternal-Fetal Relations / Q000208:ethnology; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D011247:Pregnancy; D037841:Pregnant People / Q000208:ethnology*; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012649:Self Concept; D012945:Social Values; D013240:Stereotyping; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan; D014342:Truth Disclosure