The Birth of a Child with Down's Syndrome: A Medico-Social Study of Thirty-One Children and Their Families

Abstract

In a study of 31 children with Down's syndrome and their families in the Glasgow area, medico-social help was found to be adequate in dealing with the major physical problems (especially congenital heart disease) of the child, and in providing genetic advice to those families in whom recurrence was a major anxiety.

Help was deficient in catering for the emotional and social needs of many of the families of these children.

It is suggested that these findings reflect the narrow medical concept of Down's syndrome as an isolated pathological entity, and that a major shift of emphasis of medical attention from the child on to the family unit is required to effect changes in the standards of care of such children and their families.