Awareness and Attitudes of Healthcare Professionals Regarding Denied Pregnancies

Objective: A denied pregnancy is a condition in which the expectant mother does not recognize her pregnancy even though it is advanced. In a denied pregnancy, the expectant mother realizes her pregnancy either in the twentieth week of pregnancy or when labor begins. The fact that the expectant mother is unaware of her pregnancy carries life-threatening risks for both mother and baby. In full denial pregnancies, births often take place in environments prone to complications and without any medical assistance. In addition, there are very negative and tragic consequences such as death of the newborn, postpartum emotional distress, trauma and rejection of the newborn. The first intervention to mothers who deny their pregnancy is done by health professionals. Material and Methods: In this study, we aimed to measure the awareness and attitudes of healthcare professionals about denied pregnancies through two clinical vignettes. Sociodemographic Form and Awareness and Attitude Screening Questionnaire consisting of 14 questions each were given to 240 healthcare professionals living in Istanbul. T test, ANOVA and Post Hoc Test were used to analyze the data. Results: The significance level of the study was taken as p<0.05. As a result of the study, it was observed that the health workers who participated in the research had difficulty in defining and making sense of the phenomenon and their awareness was low. Participants reported feeling more anger for the clinical vignette with a high rate of neonatal neonatality. However, obstetricians, midwives and psychiatrists would be the first people these patients would encounter. Conclusion: Increasing the awareness of healthcare professionals will provide appropriate medical care, psychological support and forensic medical assistance to these patients. Keywords: pregnancy, denial, denial of pregnancy, health care worker, attitude