Risk perception of women during high risk pregnancy: A systematic review
Risk perception in women with high risk pregnancies can affect their attitude to medical care and therefore influence the wellbeing of mother and baby. This article reviews quantitative measures of risk perception in women with high risk pregnancies. A systematic search of eight electronic databases was conducted. Additional articles were obtained through searching references of identified articles. Seven studies were identified that reported quantitative measures of risk perception in relation to high risk pregnancy. The main findings were that women with high risk pregnancies perceive themselves and the pregnancies to be at risk. However, mean risk scores consistently fall below the midpoint on risk perception measures suggesting women do not perceive this risk as extreme. Women with high risk pregnancies consistently rated their risk as being greater than that of women with low risk pregnancies. Results were inconsistent for the association between women's risk perception and that of healthcare profess...