Supporting Parents Decisions
With the introduction of universal screening for Down’s syndrome and more screening programmes to follow, all parents face choices about whether to embark on the screening and testing process. If they choose to do so, they can then face difficult decisions about whether to opt for invasive testing and risk miscarrying a healthy baby. Some parents may be given a diagnosis of abnormality and have to deal with the distressing dilemma of whether or not to end the pregnancy. Helping parents negotiate the process requires much sensitivity and skill from all the professionals involved in their care.
Supporting Parents’ Decisions covers decision-making from the parent perspective through antenatal screening, diagnostic testing and through difficult decisions about the future of the pregnancy. It also addresses issues that can be particularly challenging for professionals, e.g. dealing effectively with difficult questions such as ‘What would you do?’ and providing frameworks to aid decision-making without being directive.
Drawing on research and ARC’s extensive experience in the field, this new publication aims to provide practical help for practitioners in an area that makes great demands both professionally and personally.
Professor Charles Rodeck of UCL has contributed the preface and comments that the booklet: ‘achieves its aims with great success and should be read by everyone who sees parents faced with prenatal dilemmas.’
Order publications
- Parent's order form (43kb)
- Professional's order form (65kb)
- Overseas order form (49kb)
All forms are in the PDF format.
