Knowledge, opinions and approaches of pregnant women to amniocentesis

Objective: This research was carried out to examine the knowledge, opinions, approaches of pregnant women about amniocentesis and the factors affecting it. Material and Methods: The research was carried out analytically and cross-sectionally, by interviewing 172 pregnant women who came to the Perinatology outpatient clinic of Van Yüzüncü Yıl University Hospital to be examined before or after the examination in the waiting room of the pregnant polyclinic between July 2021 and September 2022. Results: It was determined that 94.8% of the participants did not have any health problems and 84.3% of them went to regular check-ups throughout their pregnancies. It was determined that 83.7% of the women wanted their current pregnancy, 96.5% did not attend the pregnancy education class, 88.4% had no risk in pregnancy, and 95.9% got pregnant spontaneously. 97.1% of the pregnant women stated that they had not had amniocentesis before and 87.8% of them stated that they had knowledge about amniocentesis. 81.4% of the pregnant women stated that they received information about amniocentesis from the doctor. The most common reason for recommending amniocentesis to pregnant women who participated in the study was the risk of ultrasonography (USG) evaluation. 93.6% of the pregnant women stated that they knew how amniocentesis was performed, 69.2% thought that the amniocentesis procedure would harm them, and 92.4% thought that the amniocentesis procedure would harm the baby. 88.2% of the pregnant women who participated in the study stated that they trusted the result of the amniocentesis procedure. Considering the effect of the introductory characteristics of the pregnant women on the decision of whether or not to have amniocentesis; there was a statistically significant difference between the age, gestational week and number of pregnancies of the pregnant women and the decision to have or not to have amniocentesis. When the pregnant women who participated in the study were asked about the reason for having an amniocentesis, 24.4% stated that they thought about having it done to find out if the baby is healthy, and when asked about the reason for not having an amniocentesis, 22.7% stated that they did not think of having it done because they were afraid that the amniocentesis would harm themselves or the baby. Conclusion: In line with the data obtained from the research, it was seen that the pregnant women had sufficient knowledge about the amniocentesis procedure and how the procedure was performed. Most of the pregnant women who were recommended amniocentesis in the study stated that they did not consider having amniocentesis. The vast majority of pregnant women stated that they received information about the amniocentesis procedure from their doctors. It was thought that nurses, who are the most in contact with pregnant women among health professionals, should take an active role in the subject by participating in in-house training and certificate programs about the amniocentesis procedure. It is recommended that all women planning pregnancy be informed about prenatal screening tests, amniocentesis and anomalies that may be seen in the baby. Keywords: Amniocentesis, Anomaly, Prenatal diagnosis, Fetus, Nursing.