Ethnic Differences in Prenatal Screening for Down Syndrome: information, decision-making and participation

Pregnant women and their partners are increasingly confronted with choices whether or not to participate in prenatal screening for structural, genetic, and chromosomal disorders, such as Down syndrome. Studies in several countries have documented ethnic differences in the provision of information about prenatal screening and Down syndrome, pregnant women’s knowledge and attitude and their participation in prenatal screening for Down syndrome.1-27 This thesis addresses the question whether such differences also exist in the Netherlands, where 20% of the population currently consists of individuals from non-Dutch ethnic origin. The research as presented in this thesis reports on studies on ethnic differences in the provision of information about prenatal screening for Down syndrome, pregnant women’s knowledge about prenatal screening and Down syndrome, their decision- making process and actual (non-) participation in prenatal screening for Down syndrome. This introductory chapter fi rst provides background information on Down syndrome, prenatal screening tests, the Dutch prenatal screening practice and the multi-ethnic population in the Netherlands. The aim and outline of the thesis are presented at the end of this chapter.

• View at Worldcat

Free Full Text ( Final Version , 2mb )