Impact on parental relationship in couples receiving a diagnosis of congenital heart disease in the prenatal stage

Abstract

In this article, we studied the impact relationships in parents who have received a prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease. These families are in a new stage in the life cycle that involves several changes, when parents receive the diagnosis arise many reactions that they have to manage to have a good evolution and accept the situation and the consequences that can be appear. In the investigation, 20 couples participate with their fetuses are diagnosed with acongenital heart disease. The instruments used were the FACES-III, the DAS, the BSI-18 and a semi-structured interview, which were administered between 20th-40th weeks of gestation. Results shows that couples tend to have high scores on psychological distress and idealized dyadic adjustment, but family dynamics have mostly moderate (45% of parents and 40% of mothers).