A Socio-Ethical Analysis of Antenatal Screening and Diagnosis for Pregnant Women - Case Study Example

A Socio-Ethical Analysis of Antenatal Screening and Diagnosis for Pregnant Women Antenatal screening and diagnosis Amniocentesis is a technology, used to check the conditions of woman during pregnancy. This test allows medical doctors to identify problems and complications, if any, in the patient’s fetus. Basically amniocentesis is used to identify pregnancy troubles. Formerly the diagnostic technology was only used for some special and exceptional cases of pregnancy but now it has been brought into practice for routine and normal cases as well. It is not necessary that the experience will always be negative - it can also be positive in certain cases. But, this is for sure that the woman undergoing this technical test would ultimately feel something that appears really unique to her. It is a complete procedure that involves the woman to lie down on an examining table and an ultrasound scanner is used to observe the position of the fetus and the placenta. A syringe is inserted under the woman umbilicus; a fluid is taken into the syringe. The entire procedure should be conducted in a careful manner. But, if the procedure somehow gets deviated from the actual method described earlier, the feeling of frustration and loss of arousal in the woman can be observed. In such cases, a woman will not be able to undergo the rest of the procedure the way it should have been conducted according to the convention. Since the technology involves some sort of surgical and medical instruments, these features also lay down several impacts upon the internal condition of the pregnant women. The experiences they undergo vary in nature but these experiences are actually a source of knowledge that let doctors know about the condition, position and the pregnancy level from which pregnant women is passing. Even the most perfect form of this test is even responsible for the birth of several dark shadows in the minds of the pregnant woman due to the mid-pregnant diagnosis. Not only does this, but the woman’s child rearing inside her fetus can also get affected. The implementation of this technical approach of testing pregnancy is increasing day by day. Medical testing of this approach revealed that many women undergoing this practice and hence get their pregnancy approved via the use of this technology. Those going for this test have to let the fluid tap off from them twice or more. And these excessive tappings sometimes result in the spontaneous miscarriages. Such an awful experience is undergone by one woman out of five who have gone through the test. The experience of amniocentesis is not necessarily painful and hurting for all the patients as it is usually assured by the genetic counselors to its clients. Unlike the successful patients, a small percentage of women experienced some fear of facing pain, while some feared the piercing of the needle into their womb, thus affecting their pregnancy badly. But, once it is done, the fear of loss and pain gets over and new experiences are revealed afterwards. Sonography, a step of the entire procedure is mainly responsible for giving the feeling of joy and happiness to the couple because it enables the couple to see and feel their baby in the womb more closely than it appeared inside the mother. As Lynn says: [Her husband went to the amnio with her and was able to see the baby in the ultrasound with excitement. That was much responsible for bringing him closer to the baby.] Also as experienced by Helen that [the test brought the father and baby closer together to whom she was not actually married]. The vast changes in technology in antenatal technology have enabled the people to examine the conditions of the baby before his birth according to the criterion that has been set for his birth actually. The diagnostic techniques similarly have made it possible to realize and to identify if any malfunctioning or abnormality exists in the fetus, thus ensuring the birth of a healthy and complete child. As mentioned by Paula: [The seeing of baby on the screen through the ultra sound was the best part of the test. The vision of all essential large parts with a movement was present and that she wished that she could take the pictures of the moment that were taken as a consequence of conception that had developed after the three months duration.] The antenatal test when finds the fetus somehow harmed or affected, it actually enables the parents to go for alternate decisions regarding their child before he has come into the world. The impact of such kind of decisions is mostly put upon the mother of the fetus. [A review of the diagnostic attempts states that the women undergoing these antenatal tests undergo the disorders that are associated to the psychotic as well as non psychotic factors. Major and minor depression, adjustment disorders panic disorder, obsessive- compulsive disorder and agoraphobia are the disorders thus experienced] (Austin et al., 1999; Stuart et al., 1998; Brouwers et al., 2001) As reported by Carla: [It took 3 times for the doctor to pierce her uterus and then was able to withdraw a sufficient fluid along with a little blood. But, when the sonogram was then undergone, before the amniocentesis test, she was supposed to go out of the room with the technician. At the next appointment, she came to know that a uterine fibroid tumor was discovered by the technician.] The accessibility of screening is not only restricted to the high class or low class. However it has certain terms and conditions associated to every one who is undergoing the process of screening i.e. the first or the second trimester scan dating and considering longer-time consequences and other medical reliabilities might deviate among the women thus undergoing this test of screening. Media has been publishing articles about the 3D ultra-sounds and that has been published so efficiently that people get automatically fascinated towards it. And this is the point where people find themselves inclined towards the accessibility of the screening whether that comes into the range of their budget or not. The IVF is also a technique that has been made quite attractive and easy to use for the people. Here media makes the people believe that the IVF technology should be adopted and practiced by all pregnant women whether successful or not. The success rates are neglected and the easiness of IVF is however raised by the media in the eyes of the public. The technology when invented should be essentially practiced only when the correct expertise for using it actually exists. Although the experience was perfectly fine and just a single tap enabled Deirdre to be free from any kind of awful experiences but “Creepy” is what she calls it straight-forwardly. Similarly, Jackie reports that one of her twins holds a dimple mark on her leg and that in her opinion is probably the needle mark. Besides of all the risks, the percentages of success and failures, still the adoption and practice of this test and advanced medical technology is in a wide scope. The women undergoing the Amniocentesis are considered to be much smarter and practical. Contrary to this, the women neglecting or avoiding the practice of this technology are considered to be orthodox. The imposition of this technique in the lives of pregnant women also is responsible for introducing numerous changes in their lives. Although the tentative pregnancy is something that ensures the commitment of the pregnant women with their pregnancy but some adverse affects have also been noticed. The feelings of anxiety and urge for a baby increase and hence become a reason for making them worried and somehow disturbed. Just the same way Caroline had "nightmares" and "skipped heartbeats". She dreamed about the printed results showing "abort". Women with the tentative pregnancy are more conscious about their wombs as compared to the women who are sure about the pregnancy they are holding within them. In an interviewed group, the switch off from the routine clothes to the maternity clothes has been observed to be much faster among the women who have adopted the screening and antenatal tests. Similarly the women who have experienced the Amniocentesis report the movement of the fetus much quicker than the ones who have refused undergoing the test. While interviewing on more group, it was found out that the conversion of clothes from routine to the maternity ones was much quicker among the women refusing the Amniocentesis than those who have gone for the test. This probably might have been due to the fear of facing the public and answering the questions that might be asked. As Jackie said that: [There was a resistance of buying the maternity clothes until the results were positive for sure]. The women with tentative pregnancy are in a bound of being "pregnant". The imposition of certain rules is applied upon the women with the test and hence a feeling of continuous trial exists in them, until the delivery is carried out. The women with such medical sophistication have to follow the medical based diagnosis as well just like the examinations, blood tests, weighing in and like. The medical based food guide becomes an essential for the tentatively pregnant women as well. Such as these women have to reduce the use of alcohol, caffeine, drug and tobacco. And this is all because the tentatively pregnant women can suffer from the feature "abortion" if she would not be conducting and following all such necessities of the medical based pregnancy. While for some of the women who neglects the Amniocentesis, the pregnancy introduces no problems. The feeling of surety about their baby exists within them and hence they strongly believe that Amniocentesis was just a test they didn’t attended. Such women know "deep-down" inside them and hence possess the element of satisfaction. The "mid-wives" on the other hand are responsible for creating awareness and confidence among the women who are pregnant but not "tentatively pregnant". All the facts of life and reality are displayed before the pregnant women enlightened in the experience of mid wives and the women are free to make their own choice. This phenomenon contributes to the development of women-centered care, where medication is involved but not surgically, in fact it is adopted carefully and wisely. [11,814 pregnant women when admitted to standing birth centers instead of established hospitals resulted in an efficient and successful delivery. Due to the complications and as per expectations more nulliparous than the multiparous patients were transferred to hospitals. 80 percent of the 11,814 patients were delivered in birth-centers mostly by nurse-mid-wives. 90 percent of the patients in birth centers delivered spontaneously] Traditionally, the technology used to be in considered in the mid-wife‘s hands and the definitions of pregnancy were defined by them. The diagnosis of pregnancy was, darkening of the nipples, cervical changes and so on related to the changes thus appearing on the body of the mother. The entire baby diagnosis was “presumptive” but ensuring the baby movement was a “definitive diagnosis”. The mid wife or the doctor could easily palpate into the abdomen of the mother and could feel easily about the shape of the baby. All of that process was a natural approach through which the baby could respond, make its existence felt and was able to develop a connection with the mother in a very realistic manner thus letting to the formation of a human being in an extremely proper manner. The technology on the other hand, which is used currently, enables the mother to feel the fetus and the “bond” associated with its baby via a screen thus showing the baby in it. This has actually lee towards the consideration of the existence of the baby as an individual that is present inside the mother’s body. This technology has laid down the basis of individuation and separation thus creating differences and distances among the entire society. Nancy Chodorow's “The Reproduction of Mothering” laid the ground of rethinking about the male and female gender development. The technology has made the mother to allow keeping the fetus within herself only after a proper notification is ensured about the healthy survival of the baby inside her. So in the current scenario, the technology has made man quite a perfectionist rather than humanistic. The preference is given to the development of the relationship between the mother and the child only after his growth and survival are ensured and this is the part where the mother feels the existence of just a body inside her own body and not more than that. Contrary to this, the early mothers used to develop a relationship with the baby as soon as his existence is announced. The bond was a natural phenomena and hence mothers felt the presence of a new soul inside them rather than keeping a feeling of being stuffed inside. References Bricker L, Garcia J, Henderson J, Mugford M, Neilson J, Roberts T, Martin M-A, (2000) Ultrasound screening in pregnancy: a systematic review of the clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and women's views. Health Technol Assess, 4(16): 1-193. MP. Austin Prince of Wales Hospital, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Outcomes of care in birth centers: The national birth center study. JP Rooks, NL Weatherby, EKM Ernst, S … - Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey, 1990. [Online] Available at: http://www. bgynsurvey.com [Accessed 9 September 2009] Read More