[Pregnant women's attitudes to prenatal screening in Norway].

BACKGROUND

Prenatal screening in Norway is governed by the Biotechnology Act. According to the Act, which was adopted in 2003, prenatal screening in early pregnancy may only be offered to women with an elevated risk of having a child with chromosomal abnormalities or malformations. This type of prenatal screening is undertaken at fetal medicine centres. The purpose of this study was to identify attitudes to prenatal screening among pregnant women in the Oslo region.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

In the period August-November 2019, we distributed a questionnaire to all pregnant women who attended for routine ultrasound examination at Oslo University Hospital (Rikshospitalet and Ullevål hospitals) and Akershus University Hospital. Factors characterising women with different attitudes were identified.

RESULTS

We invited 1 212 women, 1 170 (96.5 %) of whom responded to the questionnaire survey. Of the 1 159 who answered the relevant question, 909 (78.4 %) believed that prenatal screening should be offered by the public health service to all pregnant women, and 882 of 1 026 (86 %) had paid for a private ultrasound examination early in their pregnancy. Of 690 who were aware of the non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT), 190 (27.5 %) had paid for the test. Place of birth, education, religion and parity were factors that differentiated women with different attitudes to prenatal screening.

INTERPRETATION

The majority of pregnant women in the Oslo region wanted to be offered early prenatal screening. Sociodemographic characteristics were a decisive factor with regard to women's attitudes to a prenatal screening service.