Subject index - Patients, family and professional experience of health and illness... all in one place : Healthtalkonline

Full list of topics

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

Search the whole site
Search in this condition

Ending a pregnancy for fetal abnormality

Subject index

After birth of first child she had 3 miscarriages. 4th pregnancy did not 'feel right'. Nuchal scan arranged privately, baby was small for dates. Had two more scans to investigate baby's size and due date. Specialist scan at 21 weeks, then heart scan and then amniocentesis. Doctors suspected diaphragmatic hernia but amnio identified chromosomal abnormality (Wolf Hirschhorn syndrome). Pregnancy was ended by feticide and induction at 24 weeks. (Since the interview she has had another baby.)

Pregnancy & children >> Ending a pregnancy for fetal abnormality >> 3-4 years since pregnancy ended >> Interview 05 >> Explains how when she ended her first pregnancy she decided not to see or hold the baby.

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 >> Ending a pregnancy for fetal abnormality >> 3-4 years since pregnancy ended >> Interview 21 >> She tried to be normal for the sake of her children but eventually saw her GP and was offered counselling.

She has had 2 children (1st and 3rd pregnancies), 3 miscarriages and ended 1 pregnancy. 4th pregnancy: had some bleeding, arranged first scan privately at 8 weeks. Felt unsure of viability of pregnancy, had 12 week scan, no anomalies found. Arranged nuchal scan and blood tests privately and several anomalies were detected. CVS identified Edwards' syndrome. Pregnancy ended surgically at 15 weeks. She has had 2 miscarriages since the termination.

Mail to a friend