title: Are midwifery clients in Ontario making informed choices about prenatal screening?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Informed choice is often lacking in women's decisions about prenatal screening.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is to evaluate how well midwives in Ontario, Canada are facilitating informed choice in this area.
  
  
  METHODS
  An Internet-based survey was used to investigate 171 midwifery clients' knowledge, attitude towards and experience of prenatal genetic screening tests, and to determine the proportion of study participants who made an informed choice about prenatal screening.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All participants demonstrated adequate knowledge of prenatal screening. The vast majority (93.0%) of participants made an informed choice. Participants who chose to screen had lower knowledge scores than those who opted out of screening. Client satisfaction rates in regard to care received in this area ranged from 97% to 100%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results of this study suggest that Ontario midwives are effective in conveying information on prenatal genetic screening, contributing to high levels of client knowledge and satisfaction in comparison to similar studies in other jurisdictions.
authors.affiliation: Midwifery Education Program at Ryerson University in Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. Electronic address: vanessa.dixon@ryerson.ca.
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dixon
authors.affiliation: Midwifery Education Program at Ryerson University in Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. Electronic address: nadya.burton@ryerson.ca.
authors.forename: Nadya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Burton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D005820:Genetic Testing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D020407:Internet; D008880:Midwifery / Q000458:organization & administration; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D009864:Ontario; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000379:methods; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Counselling; Information provision; Informed choice; Midwifery; Ontario; Prenatal screening