Interpersonal relationships after prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease: Social stressors and supports.

OBJECTIVE

To identify social stressors and supports for expectant parents after prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease (CHD) and inform interventions to reduce distress.

METHOD: Parents of children diagnosed prenatally with CHD (N = 37) were purposively sampled across eight health systems. Qualitative data were collected using crowdsourcing methods and coded/analyzed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Social stressors increasing distress after prenatal diagnosis were widely endorsed: (1) feelings of loneliness (most common: 68%), (2) well-meaning yet unhelpful comments, (3) loss of celebration of pregnancy, (4) information overload, and (5) untimely/insensitive discussions surrounding pregnancy termination. Social supports included: (1) emotional support and small acts of kindness, (2) hope/connection through the experiences of others, (3) informational support, (4) nurturing normalcy and the joy of pregnancy, and (5) connection through religion/spirituality.

CONCLUSION

Interpersonal relationships are vital for coping with prenatal diagnosis. Interventions to reduce distress after prenatal diagnosis should attend to common social stressors.