Women's knowledge of and attitudes to first and second trimester screeningfor Down's syndrome

One hundred women were interviewed at their first hospital antenatal visit to assess their knowledge of, and attitudes to, first versus second trimest er screening for Down's syndrome. Overall, the women had limited knowledge of Down's syndrome, and the prenatal screening and diagnostic tests that ar e available. However, when informed, the majority of women expressed a clea r preference for first trimester screening tests for Down's syndrome, regar dless of the rate of miscarriage of Down's syndrome pregnancies between 10 and 15 weeks of gestation. These findings have implications for the plannin g of prenatal Down's syndrome screening programmes.