Proportion of parents agreeing to delay fetal karyotyping until the third trimester of pregnancy in cases with an indication.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the extent to which couples who could benefit from fetal karyotyping during the first or second trimester would agree to delay the examination until the third trimester.

METHODS

In this prospective monocentric study, the same physician suggested to some couples to delay fetal karyotyping until the third trimester.

RESULTS

458 couples participated in this study. 230 couples (230/458 = 50.2%) refused to delay the examination until the third trimester of pregnancy (group 1). For these patients, four chromosomal abnormalities led to the termination of pregnancy. Fifty-six couples (56/458 = 12.2%) who initially agreed to delay the fetal karyotyping later changed their minds (group 2). 104 couples (104/458 = 22.7%) agreed to delay the examination (group 3). For these patients, one trisomy 21 was diagnosed and led to the subsequent termination of the pregnancy at 33 weeks of amenorrhea. Sixty-eight couples (68/458 = 14.8%) refused any form of invasive prenatal diagnosis (group 4). There was no difference in the rate of preterm premature rupture of membranes, pregnancy term, premature birth rate and birth weight between the four groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study reports that about a quarter of couples did indeed agree to delay fetal karyotype assessment until the third trimester of pregnancy.