Abstract

Fetal anomalies are the second leading cause of infant death, and a major cause of long-term infant disability. Approximately 3% of U.S. births are complicated by major fetal anomalies. Advances in prenatal technologies, changes to universal screening standards, and changes in maternal characteristics have increased the likelihood of fetal anomaly detection. However, currently, we lack the research necessary to evaluate current intervention strategies used to assess what women need to effectively cope with the emotional turmoil that accompanies a prenatal diagnosis. Likened to a significantly traumatic life-event, women diagnosed with a fetal anomaly describe negative emotional responses such as anxiety, anger, and guilt, perceptions of inadequacy, social isolation, and grief-like reactions. Perinatal and pediatric interdisciplinary team counseling, a novel approach to counseling women with a fetal anomaly, involves use of perinatal and pediatric sub-specialists gathered to discuss and counsel on a specific fetal condition; offering women an opportunity to meet with the perinatal and pediatric sub-specialist, obtain information of the fetal diagnosis, prognosis, and anticipated post-natal course. Using Lazarus and Folkman's Stress, Appraisal and Coping framework, this research was intended to explore the perceptions of women diagnosed with a correctable fetal anomaly, who participated in perinatal and pediatric interdisciplinary team counseling.

Description

This dissertation has also been disseminated through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Dissertation/thesis number: 3668626; ProQuest document ID: 1649186546. The author still retains copyright.

Maria R. Reyes

Author Details

Maria R. Reyes, PhD, WHNP-BC, RNC

Sigma Membership

Alpha Lambda

Type

Dissertation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Observational

Research Approach

Qualitative Research

Keywords:

Birth Defects, Maternal Counseling, Pregnancy

Advisor

Patricia Hershberger

Degree

PhD

Degree Grantor

University of Illinois Chicago

Degree Year

2014

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Date of Issue

2019-03-01

Full Text of Presentation

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