Healthy Start vitamins--a missed opportunity: findings of a multimethod study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and provide a real-life view of the operation of the Healthy Start vitamins scheme. SETTING: The study took place in primary care and community settings that served rural, urban and ethnically diverse populations, in two sentinel sites: London, and Yorkshire and the Humber. An online consultation and stakeholder workshops elicited views from across England. PARTICIPANTS: 669 health and social care practitioners including health visitors, midwives, public health practitioners, general practitioners, paediatricians and support staff participated in focus group discussions (n=49) and an online consultation (n=620). 56 participants representing health and social care practitioners, policymakers, service commissioners, and voluntary and independent sectors took part in stakeholder workshops. METHODS: Three-phase multimethod study comprising focus group discussions, an online consultation and stakeholder workshops. Qualitative data were analysed thematically and quantitative data from the online survey were analysed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Study participants were concerned about the low uptake of Healthy Start vitamin supplements and the consequences of this for health outcomes for women and young children. They experienced Healthy Start vitamin distribution as logistically complex, requiring the time, resources and creative thinking of a range of local and regional practitioners from senior strategists to administrative support workers. In the light of this, many participants argued that moving to universal provision of vitamin supplements would be more cost-effective than the current system. CONCLUSIONS: There is consistency of views of health practitioners that the current targeted system of providing free vitamin supplements for low-income childbearing women and young children via the Healthy Start programme is not fulfilling its potential to address vitamin deficiencies. There is wide professional and voluntary sector support for moving from the current targeted system to provision of free vitamin supplements for all pregnant and new mothers, and children up to their fifth birthday.

A balancing act in an unknown territory: a metasynthesis of first-time mothers' experiences in early labour.

OBJECTIVE: to integrate findings of individual studies in order to broaden the understanding of first-time mothers' experiences of early labour. DESIGN: the methodology was metasynthesis which is based on the interpretive meta-ethnography described by Noblit and Hare (1988). Metasynthesis is research on research which synthesises the findings of previous qualitative studies, and the focus is on interpretation and the creation of new knowledge. SETTING: all included studies originated from high resource countries (USA 2, UK 4, and Scandinavia 5) and all were carried out in a context of hospital based maternity care. PARTICIPANTS: a total of 231 women participated in the studies. FINDINGS: 11 articles were included. The main results are presented with the metaphor a balancing act in an unknown territory. The 'unknown territory' has a double meaning: as the personal experience of going into labour for the first time and as encountering the maternity care system. On both levels women have to make significant decisions: whether labour really has started and subsequently when to go to the hospital. A key challenge is to balance the arrival on the labour ward at the 'right' time, not too early and not too late. Arriving at the 'right' time leads to a positive path, while arriving 'too soon' might lead to a cascade of negative experiences. The results are further presented with five central themes: 'Finding out if labour has started is absorbing'; 'Dealing with labour at home'; 'Trying to arrive at the labour ward at the right time'; 'There is always a risk of being sent home'; 'Encountering health professionals arouses strong emotions'. CONCLUSIONS: the metasynthesis broadens the understanding of first-time mothers' experiences of early labour, and suggests that women's needs when planning a hospital birth are not being adequately met at this stage in the labour process. Three areas of future research are suggested: how to support and strengthen women during pregnancy in order to cope with early labour; women's experiences of early labour when planning a birth in contexts other than hospital; and to continue to investigate new ways of giving care during early labour.

Can food vouchers improve nutrition and reduce health inequalities in low-income mothers and young children: a multi-method evaluation of the experiences of beneficiaries and practitioners of the Healthy Start programme in England.

BACKGROUND: Good nutrition is important during pregnancy, breastfeeding and early life to optimise the health of women and children. It is difficult for low-income families to prioritise spending on healthy food. Healthy Start is a targeted United Kingdom (UK) food subsidy programme that gives vouchers for fruit, vegetables, milk, and vitamins to low-income families. This paper reports an evaluation of Healthy Start from the perspectives of women and health practitioners. METHODS: The multi-method study conducted in England in 2011/2012 included focus group discussions with 49 health practitioners, an online consultation with 620 health and social care practitioners, service managers, commissioners, and user and advocacy groups, and qualitative participatory workshops with 85 low-income women. Additional focus group discussions and telephone interviews included the views of 25 women who did not speak English and three women from Traveller communities. RESULTS: Women reported that Healthy Start vouchers increased the quantity and range of fruit and vegetables they used and improved the quality of family diets, and established good habits for the future. Barriers to registration included complex eligibility criteria, inappropriate targeting of information about the programme by health practitioners and a general low level of awareness among families. Access to the programme was particularly challenging for women who did not speak English, had low literacy levels, were in low paid work or had fluctuating incomes. The potential impact was undermined by the rising price of food relative to voucher value. Access to registered retailers was problematic in rural areas, and there was low registration among smaller shops and market stalls, especially those serving culturally diverse communities. CONCLUSIONS: Our evaluation of the Healthy Start programme in England suggests that a food subsidy programme can provide an important nutritional safety net and potentially improve nutrition for pregnant women and young children living on low incomes. Factors that could compromise this impact include erosion of voucher value relative to the rising cost of food, lack of access to registered retailers and barriers to registering for the programme. Addressing these issues could inform the design and implementation of food subsidy programmes in high income countries.

Parents' views on how health professionals should work with them now to get the best for their child in the future.

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy and the first years of life are important times for future child well-being. Early identification of families and children who might be likely to experience poorer outcomes could enable health professionals and parents to work together to promote each child's well-being. Little is known about the acceptability and feasibility of such an approach to parents. OBJECTIVE: To investigate parents' views about how health professionals should identify and work with families who may benefit from additional input to maximize their children's future health and well-being. DESIGN: A qualitative study using focus groups. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Eleven focus groups were conducted with a total of 54 parents; 42 mothers and 12 fathers living in the north of England. RESULTS: Parents welcomed the idea of preventive services. They strongly believed that everyone should have access to services to enhance child well-being whilst recognizing that some families need additional support. Making judgements about who should receive additional services based on specific criteria evoked powerful emotions because of the implication of failure. Parents projected a belief in themselves as 'good parents' even in adverse circumstances. CONCLUSIONS: Targeted additional preventive services can be acceptable and welcome if health professionals introduce them sensitively, in the context of an existing relationship, providing parents are active participants.

Early labour services: changes, triggers, monitoring and evaluation.

OBJECTIVES: to identify the changes to early labour services, their triggers and monitoring. DESIGN AND SETTING: a mixed methods approach in two stages, firstly a postal questionnaire survey of Heads of Midwifery (HoM) services in NHS Trusts in England (cover sheet to each HoM and questionnaire for each unit in their jurisdiction) and, secondly, semi-structured telephone interviews with a purposive sample of senior midwives. The interviews sought further information about reasons for change; the impact of changes and explored the unit's particular innovations. PARTICIPANTS AND RESPONSE RATE: 145 (89%) NHS Trusts provided data (cover sheet and/or questionnaire); responses were received from all areas and types of unit. Seventeen HoMs or designated senior midwives were interviewed. FINDINGS: 83 of 170 units (49%) had made changes to early labour service provision during the past 5 years, including home assessment; the introduction of triage units and telephone assessment tools. Changes were more likely in high volume units and in consultant units with midwifery-led care areas. Further changes were planned by 93/178 (25%) units. Triggers for changes to early labour services comprised local or unit-based factors, including Category X (non-labour) admissions, response to service users and research evidence. The impact of Category X admissions on workload contributed to the triggers for change. Fifty-six (31%) could provide a confirmed figure or estimate for category X admissions. Experiences of introducing change included issues related to engagement of the workforce and the contribution of clinical leadership. Thirty-eight (48%) units did not routinely monitor use of early labour services. Overall monitoring of services was not significantly more likely in units that had made changes. Audit activity was reported more frequently in units that had made changes to their early labour services. CONCLUSIONS: early labour services had undergone significant changes following a range of triggers but the extent of change was not reflected in monitoring and evaluation activity. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Changes to service provision should be accompanied by monitoring and evaluation. Changes to services require utilisation of appropriate change management strategies.

Optimising the location of antenatal classes.

OBJECTIVES: To combine microsimulation and location-allocation techniques to determine antenatal class locations which minimise the distance travelled from home by potential users. DESIGN: Microsimulation modeling and location-allocation modeling. SETTING: City of Leeds, UK. PARTICIPANTS: Potential users of antenatal classes. METHODS: An individual-level microsimulation model was built to estimate the number of births for small areas by combining data from the UK Census 2001 and the Health Survey for England 2006. Using this model as a proxy for service demand, we then used a location-allocation model to optimize locations. FINDINGS: Different scenarios show the advantage of combining these methods to optimize (re)locating antenatal classes and therefore reduce inequalities in accessing services for pregnant women. KEY CONCLUSIONS: Use of these techniques should lead to better use of resources by allowing planners to identify optimal locations of antenatal classes which minimise women's travel. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: These results are especially important for health-care planners tasked with the difficult issue of targeting scarce resources in a cost-efficient, but also effective or accessible, manner. (169 words).

Attitudes to prenatal diagnosis and termination of pregnancy for 30 conditions among women in Saudi Arabia and the UK.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this research was to compare attitudes between women from different cultural and/or religious backgrounds toward prenatal diagnosis (PND) and termination of pregnancy (TOP) for 30 different conditions. METHODS: A questionnaire examining parents' attitudes toward PND and TOP for 30 different conditions was completed by 100 Saudi, 222 UK-White, and 198 UK-Pakistani women. Comparison of overall attitudes with PND and TOP between groups was carried out, and a total score reflecting attitudes was obtained. RESULTS: In general, there were positive attitudes toward PND among the three groups surveyed. The attitudes of Saudi and UK-Pakistani women toward PND were more favorable than UK-White women. Overall, acceptance of TOP was lower than for PND. For the majority of conditions, acceptance of TOP was highest in Saudi women and lowest in UK-Pakistani women. CONCLUSION: Attitudes toward TOP were significantly different between the three groups and may be influenced by cultural and/or religious factors. Availability of social services, genetic counseling, and rehabilitation centers may also influence attitude toward PND and TOP.

Converting policy into care: women's satisfaction with the early labour telephone component of the All Wales Clinical Pathway for Normal Labour.

AIMS: This article is a report of a study of women's experiences of, and satisfaction with, telephone communications within the All Wales Clinical Pathway for Normal Labour ('the Pathway'). BACKGROUND: The Pathway was introduced throughout Wales over 2003-2004. Its philosophy emphasizes the desirability of a woman remaining at home until labour is established with assessment by telephone, in contrast to the more common scenario where the phone call is a precursor to admission and face-to-face assessment. METHODS: In 2005-2006, telephone interviews were carried out with 46 low-risk first-time mothers in Wales. This was a mixed-methods study with iterative quantitative and qualitative analysis, focusing on differences in the accounts of women with different levels of satisfaction. FINDINGS: Women were not well prepared for the Pathway; however, satisfaction was more strongly related to interpersonal interactions with midwives. Dissatisfied women reported unclear advice, unmet needs, unaddressed anxieties and negative midwife manner. 'Very satisfied' women were distinguished by feeling welcome to attend the maternity unit and by the perceived adequacy of the advice given. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides new knowledge about telephone interactions between first-time mothers and midwives around labour onset. This is important in a changing healthcare context in which face-to-face interactions are likely to become less routine. Being made to feel welcome to attend the maternity unit might appear counter to the Pathway philosophy, but appeared to reduce women's anxieties about 'being allowed in' or getting to hospital in time, and gave them confidence to remain at home longer.

Integrating women's views into maternity care research and practice.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the role of women's views in maternity care research and practice: what we mean by that, how and when women's views are sought (or not), and what we should do next. It is argued that women's views are not a stand-alone extra, but integral at every stage, including having an impact on clinical outcomes. Attending to "women's views" should not only mean a post hoc assessment of experiences but also needs to consider expectations and values. Importantly, this approach needs to apply not only to the care of individual women but also to the shaping of research and policy agendas. Recommendations are made for ways in which women's views can have a more central role in research and practice in the future.

Men and infant feeding: perceptions of embarrassment, sexuality, and social conduct in white low-income British men.

BACKGROUND: The views of fathers have been shown to be important determinants of infant feeding decisions, but men's perceptions of breastfeeding and formula feeding are rarely explored. Our objectives were to address this gap and examine cultural associations and beliefs concerning infant feeding practices among men. METHODS: Five focus groups were conducted with low-income men (n = 28) living in areas of social deprivation in Leeds, northeast of England, and low-income areas of Glasgow, west of Scotland. Participants were white British men, aged between 16 and 45 years, and included fathers, expectant fathers, and potential fathers. RESULTS: Overarching themes concerning sexuality, embarrassment, and social conduct were identified across all groups. Participants perceived breastfeeding as "natural" but problematic, whereas formula feeding was mainly considered as convenient and safe. Participants without direct experience of breastfeeding assumed that it involved excessive public exposure and attracted unwanted male attention. Underpinning these fears were strong cultural associations between breasts and sexuality and anxieties concerning appropriate gender roles. CONCLUSIONS: In some communities few opportunities may occur to witness breastfeeding, and thus existing fears concerning the activity as attracting predatory male attention remain unchallenged. Perceptions of breastfeeding as a sexual activity and the dominant mass media emphasis on breasts as a sexual site may present additional obstacles to breastfeeding. Antenatal or perinatal education with men should address not only practical issues but also provide advice on tackling problems generated by wider sociocultural issues of sexuality and masculinity.

Factors influencing the infant feeding decision for socioeconomically deprived pregnant teenagers: the moral dimension.

BACKGROUND: The importance of breastfeeding-related health outcomes in reducing inequalities in health has been recognized as a National Health Service target to increase initiation rates especially among disadvantaged groups in England. This study examined the psychosocial factors influencing infant feeding intention among pregnant teenagers expecting their first baby and living in deprived urban areas in England. METHODS: A mixed methods study, using a quantitative questionnaire based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour, was conducted in four English regions with predominantly white and Asian teenagers (n = 71). This method identified which of all known Theory of Planned Behaviour variables were the most important in influencing feeding intentions. Focus groups provided contextual insight into the meaning of these variables for white pregnant teenagers living in a northern English inner city (n = 17). RESULTS: Moral norms were identified as the most predictive variable influencing teenage intention to formula feed or breastfeed. The likelihood that breastfeeding "will be embarrassing" was the only attitudinal belief rated as significantly important in influencing teenage intention to breastfeed. Three overarching themes emerged from the focus group data: "moral norms,""sexuality of the breast," and "self-esteem," with concerns relating to breastfeeding in public cutting across all themes. CONCLUSIONS: Breastfeeding was viewed as a morally inappropriate behavior by most of these teenagers, with formula feeding being perceived as the appropriate behavior. Existing breastfeeding promotion activities are likely to continue to fail to reach teenagers experiencing deprivation in England in the absence of effective strategies to change the underlying negative moral norms toward breastfeeding.

The role of attitudes towards the targets of behaviour in predicting and informing prenatal testing choices.

Research considering the role of attitudes in prenatal testing choices has commonly focused on the relationship between the attitude towards undergoing testing and actual testing behaviour. In contrast, this study focused on the relationship between testing behaviour and attitudes towards the targets of the behaviour (in this case people with Down syndrome (DS) and having a baby with DS). A cross-sectional, prospective survey of 197 pregnant women measured attitudes towards the targets of prenatal testing along with intentions to use screening and diagnostic testing, and the termination of an affected pregnancy. Screening uptake was established via patient records. Although attitudes towards DS and having a baby with DS were significantly associated with screening uptake and testing and termination intentions, unfavourable attitudes were better than favourable ones at predicting these outcomes. For example, in the quartile of women with the 'most favourable' attitude towards people with DS 67% used screening although only 8% said they would terminate an affected pregnancy. Qualitative data suggested that not all women considered personal attitudes towards DS to be relevant to their screening decisions. This finding has implications for the way in which informed choice is currently understood and measured in the prenatal testing context.

Studying the infant feeding intentions of pregnant women experiencing material deprivation: methodology of the Looking at Infant Feeding Today (LIFT) study.

The Looking at Infant Feeding Today (LIFT) study examined the factors underlying the infant feeding choices of first-time mothers in the Leeds and Bradford areas of England experiencing material hardship, with a view to informing interventions aimed at increasing breastfeeding uptake amongst this group. This short report describes the novel methodology used to obtain data from a sample of pregnant women who are traditionally 'hard-to-reach' in deprived areas. This involved the use of trusted individuals such as midwives and multilingual health workers. A total of 449 women were approached; 441 (91.5%) agreed to participate and 303 returned completed questionnaires. Whilst 285 participants self-completed, 18 opted for interviewer assistance provided by a trained multilingual health worker. Feeding method up to 10 days after birth was obtained from the hospital records of 248 women (82.4% of eligible returns), and self-reported feeding method at six weeks was obtained from 273 women (90.7% of eligible returns). The study succeeded in obtaining data from a relatively deprived and hard-to-reach sample, with adequate numbers of participants in the subgroups of interest (teenage, left full time education age 16 or younger, household receiving income support or job seekers allowance, Asian or African-Caribbean).

Decisions about testing and termination of pregnancy for different fetal conditions: a qualitative study of European White and Pakistani mothers of affected children.

The aim of this study is to explore reasons for and against prenatal testing and termination for a range of conditions in women from two different ethnic backgrounds. A total of 19 Pakistani and European women in West Yorkshire, UK, who either had a child with a genetic condition or had terminated a pregnancy for one, completed a questionnaire about their attitudes regarding prenatal testing and termination for 30 different fetal conditions and were interviewed about their reasons for their responses. There were more similarities than differences between the Pakistani and European white women. The most important factor in most women's decisions about termination of pregnancy was their perception of the quality of the life of a child with the genetic condition, in particular, whether the child would be "suffering." This was described as either physical suffering, as a result of medical treatment, or as emotional suffering, as a result of psychological and/or social factors. These findings highlight the need for detailed information about the potential quality of life for the child and the child's family to enable parents to make informed choices, particularly the extent to which the child is likely to suffer, the nature of such potential "suffering" and the extent to which the child could lead a "normal" life. The findings also challenge stereotypes about cultural differences in attitudes about termination of pregnancy.

Attitudes to prenatal testing and termination of pregnancy for fetal abnormality: a comparison of white and Pakistani women in the UK.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the attitudes of women from two different ethnic backgrounds to prenatal testing for a range of conditions, and to see if "clusters" of attitudes to different conditions could be identified, for which prenatal testing might be offered as a package. METHODS: Four hundred and twenty white and Pakistani women living in the UK were surveyed about their attitudes to prenatal testing and termination for 30 different fetal conditions. All participants had recently had a baby. RESULTS: Pakistani women held more favourable attitudes to prenatal testing, but less favourable attitudes to termination than their white counterparts. Both groups were most in favour of termination for the same four conditions: anencephaly, trisomy 13 or 18, quadriplegia, Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The rank ordering of conditions was also similar. Only 4% of Pakistani and 2% of white women wanted no prenatal testing at all. Fewer than a quarter of participants would consider a termination of pregnancy for 85% of the conditions, but only 25% of Pakistani women and 6% of white women would consider termination for none of the conditions. More advanced statistical analyses were used to measure how closely associated the 30 conditions were in respondents' answers. These analyses identified a principal dimension, reflecting the overall perceived seriousness of the conditions, and a cluster of severely disabling conditions-anencephaly, trisomy 13 or 18, quadriplegia, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and severe learning difficulties-which stood out from the rest. Even within this cluster there remained a considerable amount of individual variation. CONCLUSION: Women in the study wanted to make up their own minds about the conditions that to them merited testing or termination. These findings have implications for obtaining informed consent.

Have women become more willing to accept obstetric interventions and does this relate to mode of birth? Data from a prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Concern has increased about rising rates of cesarean section and other obstetric interventions, and it has been suggested that a change in women's attitudes may be partly responsible. Our objectives were, first, to examine changes in women's antenatal willingness to accept obstetric interventions between 1987 and 2000 and, second, to look at the relationship between willingness to accept obstetric interventions and mode of birth. METHODS: Data on willingness to accept obstetric interventions were collected at 35-36 weeks of pregnancy using postal questionnaires, and follow-up of women was conducted 6 weeks postnatally. Data are presented for 977 women drawn from 8 maternity units in England who were due to give birth in April to May 2000. To address the first objective, data were compared with the parent study carried out in 1987. RESULTS: The sample had significantly more positive antenatal attitudes toward obstetric interventions than the comparable sample in 1987 (F= 42.25, df= 1, p < 0.001). Willingness to accept obstetric interventions was related to mode of birth. Binary logistic regression controlling for age, education, and parity showed that women with high "willingness to accept intervention" scores had a nearly twofold increase in the odds of an operative or instrumental birth (OR 1.94, 95% CI 1.28-2.95) compared with women who had low scores. These attitudes also predicted epidural analgesia use, and differences in mode of birth were no longer significant when epidural use was included in the regression model. CONCLUSIONS: A shift toward greater willingness to accept obstetric interventions appears to have occurred since 1987, and this shift does appear to relate to mode of birth in the 2000 cohort but not in 1987. The findings suggest that epidural analgesia use mediates the link.

Understandings of Down's syndrome: a Q methodological investigation.

Down's syndrome has been, and continues to be, a central focus of prenatal testing technology. However, there has been surprisingly little examination of how parental understandings of the condition relate to prenatal testing choices. This study, carried out at the University of Leeds, uses Q methodology to identify 'competing equivalent stories' of Down's syndrome and to highlight the shared and distinct themes within these stories. Seventy-six people were selected as being likely to represent a diverse range of views about Down's syndrome, approximately half of whom had some known experience or expertise related either to the condition or to prenatal testing. The participants were asked to Q sort 50 propositions about Down's syndrome that were selected to reflect different views about the condition in terms of its impact on the affected person, on families with an affected child, and on society. Using Principal Components Analysis, five statistically independent factors were extracted that reflected a range of views towards, and experiences of, people with Down's syndrome. Despite a virtual consensus about the rights of existing people with Down's syndrome to healthcare, an education, and inclusion in their community, there were significant differences in how participants believed they personally would adjust to an affected child. Furthermore, whether or not people with Down's syndrome were seen to be within 'a continuum of normality' sheds light on how views about the condition may be linked to views about prenatal testing and termination of pregnancy. The study demonstrates that people hold complex and sometimes seemingly contradictory views about Down's syndrome, and that these are likely to influence their prenatal testing decisions. Antenatal settings currently provide little opportunity for people to discuss and explore their beliefs about disability. It is argued that this may affect the ability of some individuals to make decisions that are informed by their own views and values.

Attitudes towards prenatal diagnosis and termination of pregnancy for thalassaemia in pregnant Pakistani women in the North of England.

OBJECTIVES: Most births of children affected with beta-thalassaemia major in the United Kingdom are to parents of Pakistani origin. A popular explanation for this is that Pakistanis decline termination of pregnancy on religious grounds. However, various factors influence people's attitudes towards prenatal diagnosis and termination of pregnancy, which have not been investigated in a UK Pakistani sample. This study is aimed at exploring the attitudes of pregnant Pakistani women towards prenatal diagnosis and termination of pregnancy for beta-thalassaemia major in the North of England. METHODS: Forty-three pregnant women tested for thalassaemia carrier status were interviewed following receipt of their test results. Interviews were analysed using the grounded theory approach. RESULTS: Findings showed: (1) women's awareness of and attitudes towards prenatal diagnosis; (2) the relationship between attitudes towards prenatal diagnosis and termination of an affected foetus; (3) the relationship between attitudes towards termination of pregnancy and religious beliefs, perceptions of severity of the condition, influence of significant others, and (4) the impact of gestational age at the time of the offer of termination of pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: Pakistani women's attitudes towards prenatal diagnosis and termination of pregnancy are influenced by various factors, and therefore their religion should not be taken as a proxy for their attitudes either for or against termination of pregnancy.

Factor structure, validity and reliability of the Cambridge Worry Scale in a pregnant population.

This article presents the Cambridge Worry Scale (CWS), a content-based measure for assessing worries, and discusses its psychometric properties based on a longitudinal study of 1,207 pregnant women. Principal components analysis revealed a four-factor structure of women's concerns during pregnancy: socio-medical, own health, socio-economic and relational. The measure demonstrated good reliability and validity. Total CWS scores were strongly associated with state and trait anxiety (convergent validity) but also had significant and unique predictive value for mood outcomes (discriminant validity). The CWS discriminated better between women with different reproductive histories than measures of state and trait anxiety. We conclude that the CWS is a reliable and valid tool for assessing the extent and content of worries in specific situations.

Communication of prenatal screening and diagnosis results to primary-care health professionals.

OBJECTIVE: To describe how prenatal screening and diagnostic test results are communicated to primary care health professionals. DESIGN: Postal questionnaire. SETTING: Primary care practices across London, East Anglia, the Southeast and Southwest of England. PARTICIPANTS: 714 community-based health professionals (GPs, midwives and health visitors) identified by 247 women (participants in a study of experiences after a positive prenatal diagnosis) as members of their primary care team. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Description of how information about prenatal screening and diagnostic test results is communicated to health professionals working in the primary care team. Participants' views about the timeliness and sufficiency of the information they are given. RESULTS: 131 GPs, 143 midwives and 151 health visitors returned questionnaires, an overall response rate of 60.4%. Sixteen percent of primary care professionals reported that they were not usually informed of high-risk results after serum screening for Down's syndrome. Twenty eight percent were either not usually told about the possibility of abnormalities detected on ultrasound or only heard of such abnormalities from the woman herself. Even when informed, 28% of midwives and GPs did not know what action they were expected to take. Information about confirmed abnormalities is not always communicated to primary care. Only 29% were told soon enough about diagnosed abnormalities and only 17% of health professionals reported that the information they were given was always sufficient to allow them to discuss issues with their patients. The presence of specialist screening coordinators was perceived to be helpful by 76% of health professionals. Improvements in how they were told about abnormalities were suggested and these included the need for systems and protocols that ensured that quality information was communicated quickly. CONCLUSIONS: The frequent absence of means of effective communication between primary and secondary care about diagnosed abnormalities, and health professionals' uncertainties about their role has implications for the quality of care given to women who receive positive results after prenatal screening or diagnosis. There is a need for standards to be established concerning the communication of information to the health professionals responsible for the community-based care of pregnant women after a positive test result.