Prenatal Diagnosis in Sickle Cell Disease: In the Eyes of the Couple at Risk

Background: Prenatal diagnosis of sickle cell disorders provides a couple at risk the opportunity to make informed decisions whether or not to birth a child with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD).

Aim: To explore the knowledge of prenatal diagnosis and its acceptability among parents at risk of having another child with SCD

Methods: A self-administered structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio-demographics, knowledge and attitude towards prenatal diagnosis. The respondents were parents of SCD patients seen at the haematology consultant paediatric clinic of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching hospital. Data were analysed using SPSS version 20.0.

Results: Forty-six parents were interviewed and they were all Christians. Thirty-two (69.6%) were females and fourteen (30.4%) were males. All the respondents were from the south-south region of Nigeria. Four (8.7%) had lost children from complications of SCD. Twenty-four (52.2%), had heard about prenatal diagnosis of sickle cell disease while twelve (50%) of them heard about it from health care professionals. Four (8.7%) had done prenatal diagnosis in previous pregnancies while 32 (69.6%) were willing to do it in their next pregnancy. The most common reasons given for not doing prenatal diagnosis were religious beliefs, personal beliefs and fear of the procedure.

Conclusion: There is still a gap in knowledge and utilization of prenatal diagnosis by at risk couples. Appropriate information and regular counselling should be given to at risk parents as a key method of preventing SCD.