Desire for prenatal gender disclosure among primigravidae in Enugu, Nigeria

BACKGROUND Prenatal gender disclosure is a nonmedical fetal ultrasonography view, which is considered ethically unjustified but has continued to grow in demand due to pregnant women's requests. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of primigravidae who want prenatal gender disclosure and the reasons for it. METHODS This was a descriptive cross-sectional study of randomly selected primigravidae seen at Enugu Scan Centre. The women were randomly selected using a table of random numbers. RESULTS Ninety percent (225/250) of 250 primigravidae who fulfilled the criteria for inclusion in this study wanted to know the gender of their unborn baby, while 10% (25/250) declined gender disclosure. Furthermore, 62% (155/250) of primigravidae had preference for male children. There was statistically significant desire for male gender (P=0.0001). Statistically significant number of primigravidae who wanted gender disclosure did so to plan for the new baby (P=0.0001), and those that declined gender disclosure "leave it to the will of GOD" (P=0.014). CONCLUSION Ninety percent of primigravidae wanted gender disclosure because of plans for the new baby, personal curiosity, partner and in-laws' curiosity; moreover, some women wanted to test the accuracy of the findings at delivery and 62% of primigravidae had preference for male children. In view of these results, gender disclosure could be beneficial in this environment.