From: Antenatal screening and its possible meaning from unborn baby's perspective
Costs | Benefits |
---|---|
For hospital and health authorities | |
1) Costs in connection with diagnosis, | 1) Scarce resources allocated to |
2) Costs involved in performing termination. | children with good prognosis (rather |
3) Costs in connection with counseling services. | than to severely handicapped |
 | children). |
For pregnant women and fathers-to-be | |
Availability of prenatal diagnosis | |
 | 1) Increase in the number of healthy |
 | children born to parents at risk who, |
 | had prenatal diagnosis not been |
 | available, would have avoided |
 | becoming pregnant. |
Diagnostic procedures | |
1) Risk of fetal loss or injury, | Â |
2) Maternal hazards, | Â |
3) Maternal anxiety. | Â |
Result: | |
true negative | |
 | 2) Reassurance, |
 | 3) An increase in the number of |
 | healthy children born to parents at |
 | risk who, had the test result not been |
 | negative, would have terminated |
 | pregnancy on grounds of risk. |
false negative | |
4) False reassurance. | Â |
false positive | |
5) Abortion of healthy fetus, | Â |
6) Grief and adverse psychological | Â |
consequences of termination of non-affected | Â |
pregnancy. | Â |
true positive | |
-followed by abortion- | |
7) Grief and adverse psychological | 4) Averted parental distress and |
consequences of termination of affected | burden of care for disabled child, |
pregnancy. | 5) Additional non-disabled children. |
-not followed by abortion- | |
 | 6) Time to prepare for the birth of the |
 | disabled child. |