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Pregnancy & children
Ending a pregnancy for fetal abnormality
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The baby and the diagnosis :
Feelings about the pregnancy
Early scans and blood tests
Diagnostic tests - amnio and CVS
The 18-20 week scan and further tests
Understanding the baby's diagnosis
Deciding to end the pregnancy :
Looking for information and support
Ending the pregnancy for the baby's sake
Ending the pregnancy for family & personal reasons
Finding out how the pregnancy will end
The impact of the decision
Ending the pregnancy :
Signing the consent form
Ending the pregnancy surgically
Ending the pregnancy by induction
Going through labour and birth
Deciding whether to see, hold and name the baby
Photographs and other mementoes of the baby
Treatment, care and communication
Losing the baby :
Leaving hospital and going home
Deciding whether to have a post-mortem
Saying goodbye to the baby - sevices & funerals
Coping with bereavement - women's experiences
Coping with bereavement - men's experiences
The effects of ending a pregnancy :
Counselling and other kinds of support
Support groups
Deciding whether to have another baby
Men's ideas about their role in ending a pregnancy
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Ending a pregnancy for fetal abnormality
Subject index
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Pregnancy & children
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Ending a pregnancy for fetal abnormality
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8+ years since pregnancy ended
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Interview 28
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Explains why the scan photographs of her son matter to her and give her comfort.
She has polycystic ovaries so took clomid. Experienced 3 miscarriages then conceived twins. 5th pregnancy: 11-week scan detected twins. Nuchal scan at 14 weeks indicated twins had Down's syndrome. 2 CVS tests done at specialist centre, Down's confirmed in one twin. Selective reducation of one twin by feticide at 15 weeks. Other twin continued to term.
Pregnancy & children
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Ending a pregnancy for fetal abnormality
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3-4 years since pregnancy ended
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Interview 04
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She has kept a special box for her baby's teddy and photographs.
She had an early termination, 2 miscarriages and a normal pregnancy. Her 5th pregnancy was ended by induction at 21 weeks - baby had Down's syndrome detected by amniocentesis. Since then she has had another baby.
Pregnancy & children
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Ending a pregnancy for fetal abnormality
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1-2 years since pregnancy ended
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Interview 11
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Describes how difficult she found her second pregnancy and that her new baby often makes her think of her first baby.
Her 1st pregnancy: experienced hyperemesis during pregnancy. Triple test at 16 weeks showed high AFP reading. Sent for specialist scan which found baby had neural tube defect confirmed by amniocentesis. Pregnancy was ended by induction at 21 weeks. Post mortem indicated Arnold-Chiari malformation. Since termination she has had another baby.
Pregnancy & children
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Ending a pregnancy for fetal abnormality
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3-4 years since pregnancy ended
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Interview 30
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She decided to leave her photos of the baby in the kitchen so that members of her family could choose whether or not to look at them.
Her 2nd pregnancy: felt unwell and sick throughout pregnancy, some bleeding at 6 weeks. 11-week scan confirmed viability. 20-week scan detected heart abnormalities. Specialist scan identified tricuspid atresia and ventricular septal defect. Pregnancy ended by induction at 22 weeks. She has had another child since termination.
Pregnancy & children
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Ending a pregnancy for fetal abnormality
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5-7 years since pregnancy ended
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Interview 27
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The photos of her baby are all she's got and even though they show some facial abnormalities she is glad to have them.
Her 2nd pregnancy: she felt unwell throughout pregnancy. 12-week scan confirmed pregnancy viable. Amniocentesis identified Down's syndrome. Pregnancy ended by induction at 19 weeks. She had another baby 2 years later.
Pregnancy & children
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Ending a pregnancy for fetal abnormality
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3-4 years since pregnancy ended
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Interview 30
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Explains how it helped her in the days after the termination to keep a diary of her feelings about the baby.
Her 2nd pregnancy: felt unwell and sick throughout pregnancy, some bleeding at 6 weeks. 11-week scan confirmed viability. 20-week scan detected heart abnormalities. Specialist scan identified tricuspid atresia and ventricular septal defect. Pregnancy ended by induction at 22 weeks. She has had another child since termination.
Pregnancy & children
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Ending a pregnancy for fetal abnormality
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3-4 years since pregnancy ended
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Interview 05
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She had chosen not to see her baby but knowing that a photo had been taken she became quite desperate to see what she looked like and was upset.
Her 2nd pregnancy: 20-week scan detected neural tube defect. Specialist scan confirmed encephalocoele. Pregnancy ended at 23 weeks by feticide and induction. Post mortem identified Walker-Warburg syndrome - a genetic abnormality. 3rd pregnancy: nuchal scan revealed baby had anomalies, and by 19 weeks scan showed hydrocephalus. Pregnancy ended at 20 weeks by induction. Walker-Warburg syndrome identified at post mortem. Both parents are carriers of recessive gene. 4th child born in 2004.
Pregnancy & children
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Ending a pregnancy for fetal abnormality
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3-4 years since pregnancy ended
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Interview 07
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Describes how she found it very difficult to leave the hospital.
Her 3rd pregnancy: 20-week scan detected anomalies - baby's kidneys and stomach couldn't be seen. Specialist scan revealed baby had multiple abnormalities; parents agreed to amniocentesis which confirmed baby's problems were not inherited. Pregnancy ended at 22 weeks by induction. She has since had another baby.
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