Effect of culturally competent educational films about prenatal screening on informed decision making of pregnant women in the Netherlands

Objective: To evaluate the effect of a culturally competent educational film (CCEF) on informed decision making (IDM) regarding prenatal screening (PS) in a study population consisting of multicultural pregnant women. Methods: A cross-sectional study with 262 women in the control group and 117 in the intervention group. All counselled participants received a self-report questionnaire to obtain data on IDM and only the intervention group received the CCEF. Twenty two percent of the study population had an ethnic minority background and 52% had a low or medium educational level. Results: After exposure to the CCEF, knowledge about the Fetal Anomaly Scan (FAS) was significantly increased in ethnic minority women and in 'medium' and 'highly' educated women. Among women in the intervention group who had the intention to participate in FAS, there was an increase of 11% in IDM and a decrease of 12% in uninformed decision making. Conclusion: CCEF leads to a significant increase in the level of knowledge in medium and highly educated groups as well as non-western ethnic minority groups. The increase in IDM among intentional participants in the FAS is promising as well. CCEF's are a valuable complement to counseling about PS.

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