Amnio?

[caitlenc]

Hi Ladies!

Just wondering if any of you ladiers are planning on having an amnio? If so, would you mind sharing why, or why not? Thanks!

 

[mh_ccl]

I'm not going with amnio because I'm concerned about the invasive procedure. Instead, I'm doing Maternit21.

 

[caitlenc]

Thanks for the reply. I did MaterniT21, but it came back inconclusive due to the fact that this started out as a twin pregnancy, and one of the twins is vanishing. They were unable to separate the fetal DNA in my blood, and there was clearly something going on with the one I lost. Because of this, I can't even get the bloodwork that normally goes with the nuchal scan, so I have to base the decision about the amnio on the scan alone.

 

[Storm1jet2]

Nope I declined this kind of testing with DD and this pregnancy. I am happy to go with the flow and baby will be whatever they will be when they get here. I've had the anomaly scan though for physical abnormality..all good so far!

 

[Larkspur]

I just had my NT scan and that looked good, all of the positive signs of normal healthy baby were there (thin NT measurement, nasal bone, good femur length, anatomy all fine, size fine).

I haven't had my bloods back yet (did them about 10 days back) but if for some reason they weren't available, I think I would feel confident waiving an amnio based on the scan results alone.

Maternit21 isn't available in my country, and I would only have an amnio if the bloods came back with a drastically concerning risk level. As it is, I'm pretty confident they're only going to lower my risk profile. My midwife told me that the lab takes a look at them as soon as they're through and if anything is concerning they flag it right away, so I would have thought that if there was anything really abnormal in them, I would have heard already.

 

[Havmercy]

We are waiting for the results of our Materniti21 test to come back, but if it is inconclusive in any way, we will definitely go for the amnio. I had that NT sscan with bloods my last pregnancy and it came back with 1:16 chance of Downs. I was a nevous wreck for weeks. My husband and I argued a lot from the stress of the tests. We had the amnio and had another grueling 2 week wait, it finally came back good. Even though we had the Materniti21 done, I don't trust all these new test. At least and amnio is more accurate. Yeah, the risks of miscarriage is 5% but I was willing to take that chance since my risk of having a Down's baby was higher.

 

[Larkspur]

At least and amnio is more accurate. Yeah, the risks of miscarriage is 5% but I was willing to take that chance since my risk of having a Down's baby was higher.

My understanding is that that's a very old statistic for amnio risk. These days it's quite safe, with a miscarriage risk around 1:1600.

If anyone's concerned about amnio risk, you should ask your doctor for the risk ratios, to get the most recent information.

 

[MonyMony]

Larkspur is right, I've read a bit of research on web and stats seem to be much better than what is usually quoted, 1:400 up to 1:1600. However, I was surprised to find that even at my hospital, one of top in the area, they still quote 1:200 risk for amnio. So I don't know why the discrepancy.

I did the CVS since results come in much earlier. But I would do the amnio if any screening test showed a problem. Yes, risk is there, but I could accept that as I've never had problems conceiving, which I understand would be the deciding factor for some.

The not knowing for months just killed me with my last pg. The blood tests showed elevated risk of Downs, and I didn't have amnio because of bleeding, but wished the rest of the pg that I had.

 

[beabee]

Risk factors for Amnio tests vary from hospital to hospital as they are dependent on their specific track record. There's a generic estimated overall risk, but you should always check with the hospital/clinic doing yours to see what theirs is.

 

[Driving280]

I am planning to do the CVS. Both have a very small risk when done by an experienced practitioner. I had one with my first child and it was slightly unpleasant but the peace of mind knowing that all was genetically fine was worth it. At my age, I need to know early and it would be much harder to terminate at 16-18 weeks than at 11-12, if that unfortunate circumstance arose.

 

[caitlenc]

Thanks for all the replies. My NT scan and bloodwork came back with fantastic results, so for now we will just wait for our next scan and bloodwork at 17 weeks. If there are any red flags there, we will do an amnio. If not, we will leave things in the hands of fate. I agree that amnio statistics are only valid if you look at a doctor or hospitals specific track record. The specialist I see has a 1:4000 risk with amnio, which is about as good as it gets, so if we need to go that route I am reassured that we are in good hands.