title: "Holding our breath": the experiences of women contemplating nuchal translucency screening.
abstract: This article describes the experiences of women who were contemplating nuchal translucency (NT) screening for Down syndrome. Data were collected via semistructured interviews from 20 participants and subjected to a hermeneutic analysis. Findings included that pregnancy was considered to be an essentially abnormal process involving major risks and that being a "good mother" meant rejecting their own mother's advice and keeping quiet about a decision to terminate the pregnancy. Friends played an important role in influencing women to accept NT screening.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia. fiona_hawthorne@bond.edu.au
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hawthorne
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ahern
mesh_terms: D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D048208:Nuchal Translucency Measurement; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis