Parental expectations, experiences and reactions, sense of coherence and grade of anxiety related to routine ultrasound examination with normal findings during pregnancy

OBJECTIVE: To investigate parents' expectations, experiences and reactions, sense of coherence and anxiety before and after a second-trimester routine ultrasound examination, with normal findings. METHODS: Before and after ultrasound questionnaires including the scales parents' expectations, experiences and reactions to routine ultrasound examination (PEER-U state of mind index), sense of coherence (SOC) and state and trait anxiety inventory (STAI), were sent to a 1-year cohort of women and their partners. Replies received were 2183. RESULTS: Both parents had significantly less worried state of mind (PEER-U) after the examination than before. Women had a lower grade of state anxiety after than before, but for men there was no significant change. Before the ultrasound, women had a higher degree of worried state of mind, as well as a higher grade of state and trait anxiety and a lower sense of coherence, than men. The women showed a greater reduction in worried state of mind than the men after the ultrasound examination. There were no significant differences in sense of coherence before and after ultrasound. CONCLUSIONS: Women and men are affected in their psychological well-being in relation to a routine ultrasound examination, but their sense of coherence remains stable.