Birth defects--the state of awareness.

ABSTRACT

As doctors and nurses are the primary sources of medical information, a simple survey was conducted in 1992 among doctors and nurses to determine their level of awareness of the incidence of and risk of having an abnormal as well as their knowledge of the use of ultrasound in pregnancy. Only 10% of doctors and 23% of nurses were aware that the general risk of having an abnormal baby is greater than 1%. Only 37% and 17% of doctors and nurses respectively were aware that the best time to screen for structural abnormalities was indeed at approximately 20 weeks gestation.