ArticlePrenatal diagnosis2021
'We did everything we could'- a qualitative study exploring the acceptability of maternal-fetal surgery for spina bifida to parents.
Article in Prenatal diagnosis, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ethical challenges in conducting maternal-fetal surgery trials. A systematic review.Pediatric research · 2025Pooled it
- Reviewing next of kin regrets in surgical decision-making: cross-sectional analysis of systematically searched literature.Journal of patient-reported outcomes · 2023Pooled it
- Perceived satisfaction in fetal therapy: proposal and pilot of a novel assessment tool (FETAL Surgery Global Satisfaction).BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- A Framework for Prenatal Counselling Recommendations in Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia: A RAND-Modified Delphi Study.Prenatal diagnosis · 2026Article
- Maternal decision-making for patients offered prenatal myelomeningocele repair.Pregnancy (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Article
- Contemporary Outcomes of a National Fetal Spina Bifida Surgery Service.Prenatal diagnosis · 2024Article
- Women's worries about prenatal screening tests suspected of fetal anomalies: a qualitative study.BMC women's health · 2023Article
- Hope Aspects of the Women's Experience after Confirmation of a High-Risk Pregnancy Condition: A Systematic Scoping Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Exploring patient acceptability of a short-stay care pathway in hospital post arthroplasty: A theory-informed qualitative study.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2022Article
- Resuscitation decisions in fetal myelomeningocele repair should center on parents' values: a counter analysis.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2022Article
- The Role of Fetal Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Current Fetal Medicine.Journal of the Belgian Society of Radiology · 2022Article
- Maternal-Fetal Surgery: Does Recognising Fetal Patienthood Pose a Threat to Pregnant Women's Autonomy?Health care analysis : HCA : journal of health philosophy and policy · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo explore the concepts and strategies parents employ when considering maternal-fetal surgery (MFS) as an option for the management of spina bifida (SB) in their fetus, and how this determines the acceptability of the intervention.
methodsA two-centre interview study enrolling parents whose fetuses with SB were eligible for MFS. To assess differences in acceptability, parents opting for MFS (n = 24) were interviewed at three different moments in time: prior to the intervention, directly after the intervention and 3-6 months after birth. Parents opting for termination of pregnancy (n = 5) were interviewed only once. Themes were identified and organised in line with the framework of acceptability.
resultsTo parents opting for MFS, the intervention was perceived as an opportunity that needed to be taken. Feelings of parental responsibility drove them to do anything in their power to improve their future child's situation. Expectations seemed to be realistic yet were driven by hope for the best outcome. None expressed decisional regret at any stage, despite substantial impact and, at times, disappointing outcomes. For the small group of participants, who decided to opt for termination of pregnancy (TOP), MFS was not perceived as an intervention that substantially could improve the quality of their future child's life.
conclusionProspective parents opting for MFS were driven by their feelings of parental responsibility. They recognise the fetus as their future child and value information and care focusing on optimising the child's future health. In the small group of parents opting for TOP, MFS was felt to offer insufficient certainty of substantial improvement in quality of life and the perceived severe impact of SB drove their decision to end the pregnancy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.