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32 Issues L. & Med. 19 (2017)
Psychological Impact of Abortion due to Fetal Anomaly: A Review of Published Research

handle is hein.journals/ilmed32 and id is 23 raw text is: Psychological Impact of Abortion due to Fetal Anomaly: A Review of Published Research Nora Sullivan, M.PA.* Eoghan de Faoite, M.D.** ABSTRACT: Over the past several decades, prenatal testing for fetal anom- alies has become standard across the developed world. Most women who learn of a severe anomaly during pregnancy elect to terminate. The authors reviewed ten studies which examined the psychological sequelae of pregnant women following prenatal diagnoses of severe life limiting conditions. Based on the available data, the authors found evidence that women who abort due to a poor prenatal diagnosis are at higher risk of post-traumatic stress and depression than women who continue with pregnancy. They also found that current practice is to make reactive recommendations for post-abortion care, suggesting a presumption in favor of abortion, leaving alternatives like perinatal hospice inadequately explored. This review critiques that approach, recommending that doctors and patients need to have the best possible information before a decision is made. Across the world, an ever-increasing number of women are gaining access to multiple forms of advanced antenatal screening technologies, from ultrasound scans to amniocentesis to non-invasive blood genetic tests. These practices, particularly ultrasound technology, are now used both for general obstetrical care as well as for screening the foetus for a wide array of possible anomalies that may present themselves during pregnancy The rise of these technologies and their increased prevalence have meant that more and more expectant mothers can discover that their unborn child has been diag- nosed with certain developmental abnormalities or chromosomal anomalies, such as *Research Director, The Life Institute, Dublin, Ireland. B.A., Franciscan University of Steubenville, 2010; M.A., University College Dublin, 2015. **Medical/Nephrology Registrar at the Blackrock Clinic, and St. Vincents Hospital, Dublin. MB, BCh, BAO, with honors, Royal College of Surgeons, 2009. Member of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland (MRCPI) and of the United Kingdom (MRCPUK).

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