The Social and Cultural Factors of Making Decisions regarding Prenatal Testing

我们进行了问卷调查和访谈，以了解产前检测的现实情况和妇女对检测的决策过程。在东京地区共发放问卷900份，回收问卷382份，分析有效问卷375份。然后，我们采访了26名妇女，以详细了解每个问卷的回答，特别是关于产前检查的决策过程，以及她们与伴侣、医生和其他人的关系如何影响这些决定。结果如下：1)所有的女性都接受了不止一次的超声检查。她们把这项测试看作是一个“见到”胎儿的机会，所以测试减轻了她们与怀孕有关的担忧。不仅是女性，她们的男性伴侣也意识到了为人父母的重要性。但是，在收到坏消息的情况下，比如试探性的臀位展示或轻微的发育延迟，女性会更加担心。2)关于母体血清筛查和羊膜穿刺术，接受这些检查的妇女充分了解检查结果的目的、风险和意义，并表示是她们自己做出决定的。没有接受这些检查和缺乏有关检查信息的妇女说，她们没有选择检查是因为她们身体健康，年龄较小。有些人说，他们可以抚养一个残疾的孩子，或者即使在这种情况下，他们也不想堕胎。但许多人解释说，他们不想面临一个艰难的选择，所以他们没有接受测试。此外，这些妇女倾向于回答说，由于医生没有向她们提供这些信息，她们认为自己不需要进行检测。

We conducted a questionnaire survey and interviews to exam the reality of prenatal testing and women's decision-making process regarding testing. Nine hundred questionnaires were distributed in Tokyo, of which 382 were retrieved and 375 valid responses were analyzed. We then interviewed 26 women to understand each questionnaire response in detail, particularly the decision-making process regarding prenatal testing and how their relationships with partners, physicians and others influenced those decisions. The results were as follows :1)All of the women underwent ultrasound testing more than once. They saw the test as a chance to "meet" their fetuses, so the tests relieved their pregnancy-related worries. It also made not only the women but also their male partners conscious of being parents. But, in the case of receiving bad news, such as a tentative breech presentation or slightly delayed development, the women worried more. 2)Concerning the maternal serum screening and amniocentesis, women who underwent these tests sufficiently understood the purposes, risks, and meaning of the results and said they made the decision by themselves. Women who did not undergo these tests and who lacked information about the testing said that they did not choose the testing because of their good health and younger age. Some said they could rear a disabled child and/or they did not want to have an abortion even in such a case. But many explained that they didn't want to be faced with a hard choice so they didn't undergo testing. Furthermore, these women tended to answer that since their doctors did not provide them with the information, they assumed they did not need to be tested.