Article Re testing for Downs

[CedarWood]

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-...asive-testing-for-downs-syndrome-2183337.html

Testing makes me nervous no matter how slight the risk - this was nice to read!

 

[Nat0619]

Certainly sounds a much better way of testing

But I'm not sure I'd have the test anyway. It's something I'm not sure whether it's better to know or not

 

[TaeBoMama]

It's good to know that there is a non-invasive way to test. But I'm with the previous poster...I don't know if it's something that's best known. With my first, I had an amnio because ultrasound had already found that my baby had Hydrocephalus (aka water on the brain). The doctors made me feel like I had to test (I was 20 and scared). After I had the test I began to worry if I was going to be the %1 that lost the baby after such a test. Besides, I would have continued the pregnancy whether my baby had Downs or not. The doctors had already told me that my son would be moderately to severely developmentally delayed from the Hydro. But they were wrong. This kid turned 18 years old a couple of weeks ago and he is normal. Sometimes the tests just make you worry about things you don't need to worry about.

 

[mumoffive]

Interesting!
I havent had any only the 20wks anomoly scan.

 

[knitbit]

With 96.6% accuracy, it's not much better than the first trimester screen and probably a lot more expensive...

For the first trimester (NT) screen, you get the most accurate results if you do the finger prick at 10 weeks and the ultrasound at 12 weeks. I guess there are soft markers you can look for that the clinic may or may not look for depending on their protocol. These include the presence of the nasal bone and the angle of the palate relative to the forehead. (Had a miscarriage after my NT screen was abnormal, so I researched it a lot.)

This video lecture is really good.
https://www.fetalmedicine.com/fmf/o...This=true&TB_iframe=true&height=370&width=350

 

[truly_blessed]

nice to know but it says there were no false negatives so i presume there were false positives whereby ds is identified but the baby is not ds when born. that's the biggest worry for me.

 

[bbhopes]

get a 20 week scan to check the heart. I wasn't given one even though I was already high risk and paid the price.

 

[candylok]

Too bad that none of the tests is 100%.