Prenatal medicine related to stress and depressive reactions of pregnant women and their partners

Objective: Our study analyses the emotional mood of pregnant women and their partners before various prenatal diagnostic procedures (amniocentesis, ultrasound, chorion villus sampling), and their psychological stress both before and after the diagnostic procedures. Methods: We studied 472 pregnant women and 308 partners. 88 women (18.6%) had an amniocentesis, 344 (72.8%) had ultrasound and 40 (8.5%) a chorionic villus sampling. The German version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale of Hautzinger and the short questionnaire of actual situative perceived stress of Muller were used. Results: Before prenatal examination, the mean level of depression and strain was equal in women and men in all groups (ultrasound, amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling). Before the start of the prenatal examination the pregnant women had a significantly higher depressive feature on the depression-scale and significantly higher stress score than their partners. After prenatal examination the couples' stress differed significantly in the three groups for women and for men. Comparing the stress experienced before and after the prenatal diagnosis revealed both for women and men statistically significant differences. Discussion: The individual experience of prenatal diagnosis is not determined by the invasivity of the procedure.