Discussion responses RE: prenatel testing
For this assignment I need someone to reply to discussion posts. I included the posts written. The #1 is the post I submitted and the professors feedback. I would need
a very short response that includes all questions answered. #2 and #3 are from other students posts I need short responses with APA formatting and at least one
citation to each. I can send you the origional assignment if it would help.
Prenatal testing and counseling is important for the health of both the unborn baby and mother. Prenatal tests help identify any pregnancy problems before it is too
late. These entail conditions like genetic disorders and birth defects. Many countries health regulations ensure that a pregnant mother has access to low-cost and even
free prenatal care. In testing, women are given choices about the kind of pregnancy that would result to a healthy baby. Moreover, there are many congenital diseases
that when detected early, can be treated. Other important benefits of prenatal care include: reduction of pregnancy related health problems such as anemia,
preeclampsia, preterm birth and poor growth of the baby.
According to Chen, Wen, Yang, and Walker (2007), failure to seek prenatal care results in 40% neonatal deaths. Preterm delivery is the leading cause of neonatal
deaths, wherein the lack of prenatal care is major cause. This is in addition to other factors such as lack of nutrition and fitness advice. There are many prevalent
birth complications that have been associated with unhealthy lifestyles during pregnancy. Mothers are also encouraged to consider natural births if it is possible. The
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists discourage pregnant mothers from scheduled C-Section if they are able to have vaginal births (Bergeron, 2007).
Prenatal testing is also important for the psychological well-being of the mother since different types of tests can be reassuring. For example, an ultrasound would
confirm if the baby is healthy and strong, which encourages mothers to take more care of themselves during the nine months of pregnancy (Heberlein et al., 2016).
Pregnancy testing also enables mothers to find specialists in a scenario where one would be needed during delivery. As evident in this discussion, prenatal testing is
always a win-win situation for the mother and the baby.
References
Bergeron, V. (2007). The ethics of cesarean section on maternal request: A feminist critique of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ position on
patient-choice surgery. In Bioethics (Vol. 21, pp. 478–487).
Chen, X. K., Wen, S. W., Yang, Q., & Walker, M. C. (2007). Adequacy of prenatal care and neonatal mortality in infants born to mothers with and without antenatal
high-risk conditions. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 47(2), 122–127.
Heberlein, E. C., Picklesimer, A. H., Billings, D. L., Covington-Kolb, S., Farber, N., & Frongillo, E. A. (2016). Qualitative Comparison of Women’s Perspectives on the
Functions and Benefits of Group and Individual Prenatal Care. Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health, 61(2), 224–234.
Hello Heidi,
#1- 40% is a considerable amount of deaths! I never really took a look at that percentage. I get your point regarding prenatal testing being important for the
psychological well-being of the parent. However, you do have many who argue being against testing. So, what about those who argue that mandatory testing is an
invasion of rights or the parent being forced to do something with their body that they aren’t open to have done?
Sincerely,
#2- Prenatal testing no doubt I support it for the health of both mother and child, prenatal testing not only checks on the developmental phases of the child but it
also ensure that the brain heart and other vital organs are being developed correctly. Testing also ensure that any communicable disease that can be transmitted from
mother to fetus can be detected. As according to the American Pregnancy Association website there are approximately twelve to fifteen different types of prenatal test
that are conducted during the pregnancy.
Now with the spread of Zika virus (mosquito bite) and the Monsanto’s pesticides outbreak, and babies are being born with birth defects. More emphasis needs to be
placed on prenatal testing (Sheffield, et.al 16).
#3- As I am currently pregnant I do think that prenatal testing and counseling should be mandatory and here are the reasons why: your baby can be born with a genetic
disorder, such as Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, Tay-Sachs disease, or sickle cell anemia, by doing prenatal testing they can calculate the odds if the fetus might be
born with a genetic disorder. In the United States each year there are 1in 33 babies born with a birth defect, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC). I believe this all can take place in the first trimester of your pregnancy.
By doing screening testing it can help warn parents-to-be whether the fetus may be at high or low risk of having a chromosomal abnormality, but the only way to
actually know if the baby will be born with a problem is in its genetic makeup, by doing diagnostic testing, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Most
women do prenatal genetic testing to find out what the risk is before the baby is born because some prenatal tests detect problems that can be treated during
pregnancy. Some women would rather know the information during pregnancy than at birth to make plans or gain further knowledge and that’s why I have done my prenatal
testing and will continue to do my genetic screenings and genetic testing for my prenatal monitoring. Your care provider can counsel you and help you and give you
further knowledge on what tests that are performed and if your baby has a genetic disorder, they would give you information on the disorder and that would give you a
better understanding on how to deal with it. The articles below give you a great deal of information on prenatal testing and counseling.
