Women's Attitudes to Screening for Neural Tube Defects

The attitudes of 2254 pregnant and 262 other women to serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) screening for neural tube defects (NTDs) were investigated, the former by interview and the latter by questionnaires to which 228 replies were received. Over 97 per cent of the pregnant women wanted to be included in such a screening programme. Ninety-six per cent of other women who completed the questionnaire were in favour of national screening for NTDs but 14 per cent of them were uncertain about the action they would take if the test were positive.