TABLE 1.
Participant characteristics | N = 31 |
---|---|
Age | Range: 30–64 years, mode = 45 years |
Years in profession | Range: 5–30, mode = 15 years |
Gender | |
Female | 24 |
Male | 7 |
Interviews per country a | |
The Netherlands | 6 |
Sweden | 6 |
UK | 6 |
Denmark | 5 |
Australia | 4 |
Singapore | 4 |
Professional background | |
Clinical geneticist | 12 |
Clinical scientist | 11 |
Obstetrician | 4 |
Genetic counsellor | 2 |
Fetal medicine consultant | 1 |
Paediatrician | 1 |
Hospital type | |
Public | 29 |
Public and private | 2 |
Abbreviations: CMA, chromosome microarray analysis; ES, exome sequencing.
Participants from Australia were recruited through two sites, the Melbourne Academic Centre for Health Women's and Newborn Health Network, and are representative of Australian practitioners working in publicly funded metropolitan health services. Participants from Denmark were recruited from all the three genetic centres where prenatal samples are analysed. There is a publicly funded national screening program in Denmark resulting in relatively uniform services being provided, however new methods (CMA or ES) have been implemented prenatally at different timepoints between the three centres. Participants from the Netherlands were recruited from one of the eight academic hospitals in the Netherlands that provides prenatal genetic testing. Participants from Singapore were recruited from two out of six sites across the country where prenatal CMA and ES are performed, and are representative of Singaporean practitioners working in government funded health services. Participants from Sweden were recruited from four out of six sites across the country where prenatal CMA and ES are performed and where there is both a genetic and a specialist obstetrician taking care of the patients. Participants from the UK were recruited from one regional genetics service in London (of which there are 21). Participants in the UK were recruited from one site which is a regional genetics centre. In England, the NHS fetal anomaly screening programme ensures that there is equal access to uniform and quality‐assured screening for all pregnant women.