Views and attitudes of pregnant women on decision making for LTOP for severe fetal abnormalities.

M. Med. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2011.Aim: To study the views and attitudes of pregnant women with a severe fetal anomaly towards late termination of pregnancy (LTOP). Methods: Data was collected over a 3 month period using a pen and paper semi-structured interview of pregnant women with severe fetal abnormalities (lethal and non-lethal) detected after 24 weeks gestation at a tertiary / quaternary hospital. The interview was conducted during pregnancy and within 2 weeks after delivery. All women had prior counselling about their fetal anomaly by healthcare workers at the Fetal Unit. A variety of demographic and socio-economic characteristics were compared between the women that underwent termination of pregnancy (TOP) and those that continued with their pregnancy. The interview was conducted over approximately 30 minutes in the privacy of a counselling room or side ward. Informed consent was obtained from all participants and the study received ethical approval. The responses were analyzed using a statistical package with descriptive statistics calculated. A p-value of <0.05 was used for statistical significance. Results: During the study period, 15 pregnant women with severe fetal anomalies were interviewed. Of these, 5 (33%) women requested TOP and 10 (66%) opted to continue with the pregnancy. The mean (range) maternal age for those continuing with the pregnancy was 25 (20-32) years; and in those requesting termination was 31 (22–35) years. The patients who continued with pregnancy were significantly younger than those who decided to terminate (25 vs 31 years; p