Healthy debate over premarital checks (5)

"The list of questions and tests was longer than for the premarital checkup and even included a check on the quality of my husband's sperm. I think it is more meaningful," she said.

"It (the premarital check) cannot be replaced by checkups during pregnancy. If the baby is shown to have a severe health problem, the parents will have to decide whether to have an abortion, which can bring great harm to the mother and also the family," said Li Huajun, director of the obstetrics and gynecology department at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing.

He added that the rate of birth defects in China is 10 times higher than in the US and some European countries.

An important aim of the premarital check is to gather basic knowledge about a patient before pregnancy, because the information it provides can be crucial. One of the advantages is that the check can provide clues about whether a woman should take preventive measures, such as using folic acid which can prevent defects such as spina bifida.

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