[Good preconditions for a cooperation between physicians and psychosocial professionals in prenatal diagnostic counselling--empirical results referring to the initial situation of a model project].

In a model project, the cooperation between physicians and psychosocial professionals is supported in order to improve the quality of counselling in prenatal diagnostics (PND). For this purpose, interprofessional quality circles (IQZ) had been established in six different places in Germany and were accompanied scientifically. By means of a questionnaire, data on self-perception and the perception of the respective other group, the cooperation practice and various attitudes in the context of PND had been collected. Sociodemographic characteristics of the participants and structural features of counselling had been described, characteristics of attitudes towards PND and of the therapeutic relationship had been examined by means of MANOVA or non-parametrically on the item level. The results show that notwithstanding a high willingness a cooperation between physicians and psychosocial professionals rarely takes place. Although the counselling offers of the two professional groups would complement each other, differences in the attitudes towards PND, most of all considering the relevance of medical pre-findings performing an invasive PND, depend on the gender of the professional. It is recommended to include these results into the future IQZs, and to stimulate the participants to consider the complementary attitude of the other professional/gender group in the interest of a common counselling concept.