Active or passive guidance? Decision-making in fetal health consultation.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-2022

Identifier

DOI: 10.1080/14767058.2020.1760835

Abstract

Prenatal consults are full of uncertainty. But, what are physicians contributing to this, and what is parents understanding of the intricacies of the complex decisions we present to them? Might the way we actively or passively guide parents affect how they make decisions in the complex world of fetal health consultations? For instance, how does "recommending" versus "not recommending" impact how parents view their choices? Reviewing the literature, there is a paucity of data on this topic. There are studies detailing experience but not of how guidance affects decision-making. We review some of this literature and discuss concepts relevant to this observation. We hypothesize that passive or active guidance by fetal health consultation members influences the moral deliberation and ethical decision-making of parents in different ways and propose a possible research idea.

Journal Title

The journal of maternal-fetal & neonatal medicine : the official journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies, the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians

Volume

35

Issue

9

First Page

1787

Last Page

1788

MeSH Keywords

Decision Making; Female; Humans; Parents; Pregnancy; Prenatal Care; Referral and Consultation

Keywords

Parental decision-making; communication; ethics; fetal health center; fetal health consultation

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