Factors Affecting Improved Prenatal Screening: A Narrative Review

BACKGROUND: Prenatal screening deals with the detection of structural and functional abnormalities in the fetus. Health care providers can minimize unintended pregnancy outcomes by providing proper counseling and performing prenatal screening. The purpose of the present review study is to investigate factors affecting improved prenatal screening.

METHODS: The present study is a narrative review searching public databases such as Google Scholar and specialized databases such as Pubmed, Magiran, Scientific Information Database, Elsevier, Ovid and Science Direct as well. Using the keywords “prenatal screening”, “fetus health” and “prenatal counseling”, 70 relevant articles published from 1994 to 2014 were selected. After reviewing the abstracts, the full data from 26 articles were ultimately used for writing the present review study.

RESULTS: Three general themes emerged from reviewing the studies: health care providers' skills, clients' characteristics and ethical considerations, which were the main factors affecting improved prenatal screening.

CONCLUSION: Prenatal screening can be successful if performed by a trained and experienced expert through techniques suitable for the mother's age. Also simultaneously providing proper counseling and giving a full description of the risks and benefits of the procedures for clients is recommended.