Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Methods to Study Multifetal Pregnancy Reduction

Abstract

This study integrates quantitative and qualitative research methods to examine the psychologic repercussions of multifetal pregnancy reduction, a recently developed reproductive technology. Two theoretical vantage points, descriptive psychiatry and psychoanalytic theory, were used to understand the emotional impact of the medical intervention, which involves aborting some but not all of the fetuses in a multifetal pregnancy. Quantitative analysis of diagnostic interviews indicated that women who underwent pregnancy reductions were at no greater risk than controls for developing depressive disorder. Although multifetal pregnancy reduction posed no apparent mental health risk, women experienced it as stressful and distressing. Women's responses were organized and understood via qualitative analyses based on six contemporary psychoanalytic perspectives: drive theory, ego psychology, object relations theory, self-psychology, interpersonal viewpoints, and developmental concepts. Some of the practical and philosophic implications of qualitative and quantitative strategies are considered.