Prenatal Diagnosis of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome: Impact of Counseling Patterns on Parental Perceptions and Decisions Regarding Termination of Pregnancy

An online survey for parents of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) was developed to study parents’ experiences at the time of diagnosis. The survey was distributed to online support groups. A total of 841 responses from parents of children with CHD were received during a 4-week period. The current study examined those respondents (211 [25 %]) who reported their child’s diagnosis as hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). Among these, 138 (65 %) reported receiving the diagnosis prenatally. 32 % of those receiving a prenatal diagnosis reported that after they declined to terminate the pregnancy, termination was mentioned again by their physicians. Parents who had termination mentioned again after their initial decline reported significantly lower optimism regarding their child’s life expectancy than those who did not have it mentioned again (66 vs. 94 %, p < 0.001); were more likely to interpret the term “rare” to mean “little or no chance of survival” (34 vs. 13 %, p = 0.01); and were more likely to change pediatric cardiologists (PCs) (43 vs. 12 %, p < 0.001). Similarly, 22 % of respondents receiving a prenatal diagnosis reported feeling pressure to terminate the pregnancy by the PC. Those who felt pressure to terminate reported lower optimism about their child’s life expectancy than respondents who did not feel pressure (48 vs. 88 %, p < 0.001) and were more likely to choose a new PC (48 vs. 17 %, p < 0.001). In our cohort of parents, when termination of pregnancy was mentioned after the parents declined it, or if the parents felt pressure to terminate, the parents perceived a lower chance of survival, felt less optimistic about their child’s life expectancy, and were more likely to choose another PC for long-term follow-up care. Our study could not determine whether repeated discussions of the possibility for termination of pregnancy independently impacts parental optimism regarding prognosis or whether those who counsel with repeated discussions of termination tend to have more guarded notions of the prognosis of children with HLHS. Further study is warranted to identify the implications of counseling patterns on parental perceptions and decisions regarding termination of pregnancy.