ABSTRACT
An essential consideration within the sphere of prenatal diagnosis is the resulting psychological effects on the parent(s). In a society where the majority of children are planned, with normality and health the expectation, fetal abnormality and the prospect of terminating a wanted pregnancy can result in grief and devastation for the parent(s). Questioning a woman’s capability to produce normal children can cause increased stress, which can potentially result in two interlinking and damaging psychological outcomes – increased anxiety levels and disordered antenatal attachment. It is suggested that pregnancy itself provokes higher anxiety levels and a heightened sensitivity to stressors; any compounding stress may lead to severe anxiety and disordered coping mechanisms. Severe anxiety in pregnancy has been associated with both psychological and physical consequences, including increased dependency on smoking and drugs; spontaneous abortion; and preterm labour. It has also been found that severe
anxiety regarding fetal normality leads to the woman withholding emotional attachment to the developing fetus, afraid to invest too much emotional energy in a pregnancy that may be terminated.
