Ethics aspect in antenatal diagnostics

In my bachelor thesis I considered Ethic aspects of prenatal diagnostics. I focused on the existing care for pregnant women in the field of prenatal diagnostics. I focused on genetic examination of the fetus, which these women undergo nowadays. The theoretical part illustrates different views of prenatal diagnostics. It contains also a definition of basic conceptions and a description of genetic examinations and the most frequent genetic defects. The aim of my thesis is to identify views of some pregnant women on prenatal diagnostics and to determine to how much they were informed about the examinations they had passed. Another aim was to state, who and in what way informed them about results of the examination and if the pregnant women have got enough time for a thoughtful decision and a possible discussion with the doctor. In order to achieve the defined aims I used the qualitative research, method of an enquiry and techniques of a semi-structured interview. The interviews were made with randomly selected respondents at the age category of 27 years and older, which underwent genetic examinations during their pregnancy. The research showed that interviewed pregnant women wish to undergo the genetic examination, because they want to be sure that their baby will be born healthy. Next, I found that some pregnant women were not informed enough and the results of the genetic tests were communicated by telephone, by post or directly by their gynecologist. The women were allowed to discuss with a doctor but in most cases, although they signed an informed patient´s approval with the examination, they had not got enough time for a thoughtful decision if they should have undergone the examination. Based of this information, doctors and health workers should change their access to the pregnant women. An individual approach to each pregnant woman would ensure a real understanding of both positive and negative aspects of the genetic examination. An individual approach would enable the pregnant women to think over, if they will undergo the examination or not. This change would help to remove a persisting paternalistic approach in the health service. The results of my research can serve as a basis for a further research of the current care for pregnant women