Did anyone not get the NT scan?

[Starlight32]

Hi all! I popped over here to ask if anyone decided to not get the NT scan during weeks 11-13 and regret it? My husband and I are struggling to make a decision to get the scan or not.

 

[lau86]

I had the twelve week dating scan I just declined the NT parts of it. They still checked the baby over but I just didn't get a risk level for Down syndrome.
It's a personal choice, I wasn't going to have amniocentesis so I didn't know what exactly I would do with worrying results other than worry about them.

 

[Misscalais]

I didn't with my 1st two. Only did with 3 and 4 because i wanted to see baby again

 

[TTC 84]

We didn't get it and I don't regret it at all

 

[MrsJones1986]

We had a real hard time deciding whether to have it or not. I shed a lot of tears and worried constantly. In the end it came down to whether we would investigate further if we had a high risk rating (ie the fluid injection through the tummy). We agreed that whatever the result it wouldn't change anything so we didn't have it done.

I think anything obvious would be picked up at the scan anyways and by 20 weeks you will have the thorough anatomy scan.

Pregnancy is a constant worry and this is just one more thing to add to the stress x

 

[mrs_sasquatch]

I didn't, but I don't regret it. Regardless of the results, it wouldn't have changed anything for us, so we felt it was a waste.

 

[MindUtopia]

We didn't get it, but no, I didn't regret it at all. We won't opt to get it next time either. My feeling was that it didn't give me any useful information that I could do anything with. Our daughter was born perfectly healthy, but if she had in fact had any chromosomal abnormalities that led to a problem with her development (like a heart abnormality), that would have been picked up in the 20 week scan and we could have investigated that further then. We had a home birth, so if there were any issues that would have led to needing a higher level of care, I would have wanted to know that and that would have shown up in the anomaly scan. I didn't really think it was useful to know what my statistical risk of a chromosomal abnormality (which is what the NT scan tells you) was in the absence of an actual issue with fetal development (which is what the 20 week scan tells you). We wouldn't have opted to end the pregnancy under any circumstances and I wouldn't have done anything different in terms of my pregnancy and birth unless there was an actual issue detected later. In my case, it just seemed like an extra thing to worry about, plus a waste of resources to do (costs the NHS money, but wouldn't have influenced my decision-making anyway).

 

[Lozzielaula]

We had it done, but it wouldn't have changed the pregnancy for us. We only wanted to know so we could be as prepared as possible if baby did have Downs. I think I would have regretted not getting it, because it would have driven me mad not knowing if there was a potential problem (although I know it doesnt rule it out entirely). The test was non-intrusive as well, we wouldn't have gone for any risky tests if our results had come back high risk.

 

[jlw617]

Didn't get it or any other additional testing and didn't with our others either, never regretted it.

 

[prettybirdy27]

We didn't get one and we didn't regret it. My doctor told us that it's only necessary if the results of this test would change how we handle this pregnancy - i.e. if we would end it if the results pointed towards Downs or other chromosomal abnormalities. The answer was no, we wouldn't end the pregnancy, so we didn't do the scan.

We did do the genetic blood testing, and the results were:

DOWN SYNDROME SCREEN RISK ESTIMATE 1/42,000
DOWN SYNDROME MATERNAL AGE RISK 1/880
TRISOMY 18 SCREEN RISK ESTIMATE < 1/100

Plus none of us have any risk factors for Down's, so those results were enough to put our minds at ease.

 

[Becky1987]

I didn't with either of mine and didn't regret it either. Like others have said it wouldn't have influenced my decision making regarding the pregnancy and a real issue would have been picked up on the 20 week scan. I would have worried if the numbers hasn't been right.

 

[WW1]

I didn't get it and don't regret it. The result wouldn't have impacted on the pregnancy so it would just have been an extra potential worry.

 

[MrsBroodyPant]

I had it done and of course it does impact on the pregnancy if you get a bad result. My first pregnancy was discovered to be tripoidy because of this test, it is not compatible with life. I think people just don't understand what the test can actually tell you. Most are lucky and go on to have a healthy pregnancy without taking the test so I understand the naivety of it all. I would of felt the same way if I hadn't experienced what I have. Obviously it doesn't change the way you feel about the baby but it isn't about your feelings it is solely about the baby and what is best of it. Xxx

 

[Dill]

I had the Panorama blood test done during that time, so there was no need for an additional scan. They still did a combined anatomy/nt scan at 20 weeks, but we already knew gender and chromosomal & genetic status at that point.

 

[lau86]

I had it done and of course it does impact on the pregnancy if you get a bad result. My first pregnancy was discovered to be tripoidy because of this test, it is not compatible with life. I think people just don't understand what the test can actually tell you. Most are lucky and go on to have a healthy pregnancy without taking the test so I understand the naivety of it all. I would of felt the same way if I hadn't experienced what I have. Obviously it doesn't change the way you feel about the baby but it isn't about your feelings it is solely about the baby and what is best of it. Xxx

I'm sorry for your loss. From my point of view though, I do fully understand the test, the next step is amniocentesis which carries a risk of miscarriage (I think it's around 0.5% which is quite high to me), that's done around 16 weeks I believe then it takes a few weeks to get the results? Which is near the twenty week scan anyway so a lot of issues would be picked up there. It is a personal choice but I think to say people don't understand and are naive is not quite accurate IMO.

 

[Fezzle]

I had it done, but if we have another baby, I won't do it next time. I got a 'high risk' classification (1 in 76) so we did the non-invasive Harmony test which showed that all of the chromosome issues were low risk (1 in 10000). I think my high risk was mostly due to my age (I'll be 40 at term), so as I'll be even older next time, I'm just going to go straight to the Harmony test. DH and I decided early on that we wouldn't terminate if had turned out to be Downs Syndrome, but we still wanted to be prepared as early as possible, especially if it was a chromosomal issue not compatible with the pregnancy progressing.

 

[bookworm0901]

I had it done with baby 1 and baby 2. I wish I was doing it this time. No, I would not abort my baby or do anything with the results but if there was an issue, I need to know and be prepared. It's just how I am.

The reason I'm not having it done is because I didn't have my first ultrasound this time until 11 weeks and at my OB appt when the nurse was asking me what tests I wanted and I said the NT, she acted strange about it and made me feel uncomfortable and she ended up talking me out of it.

One reason against it for me was that the found a calcium deposit on my DD's heart during hers and it did cause a lot of extra worry for what turned out to be nothing. I want to be prepared but I don't want to worry over nothing.

 

[Spudtastic]

I got it but it also wouldn't have affected the pregnancy if baby had downs.

On a different note though...and I'm not saying this will happen it's just my experience. ..I discovered I had a mmc at my nt scan last pregnancy. I had no idea as I was really sick and had pregnancy symptoms. I decided to wait for a natural miscarriage which never came. I had an erpc at 19 weeks.

I got the nt scan this time because I had to see my baby and make sure all was well (it is) and be mentally prepared if necessary.

 

[lomelindi17]

I got the basic bloodwork done to check for genetic disorders & Downs but didn't get the NT scan part of it. The bloodwork showed very low risk so I was fine with not getting the scan. I wanted to limit ultrasound exposure so that was more important to me. We got the 20 week anatomy scan and everything was perfect.

 

[Hopeful.89]

I had the NT Scan done with this pregnancy and I will not be doing it again. My age doesn't play a big role in the risk of downs (I am 26 right now), however it took us 15 months to conceive so I was constantly worried that something was going to be wrong with the baby or that I would MC, that is why I chose to have the NT scan. I had it done at 14 weeks and they found an abnormality with the babies jugular development (in the front not the nuchal fold in the back). They were worried about Turner Syndrome... long story short we spent the next 4 weeks in additional ultrasounds, and specialist offices, a lot of stress and a ton of crying and coping with the high risk for late term miscarriage (complication with Turners). Then at an 18 week ultrasound with our specialist we discovered he was a boy (Turners only happens in females) and that his lymphatic system had caught up and there were no longer any jugular abnormalities. We would not have terminated our pregnancy or had an amnio regardless of the results and I feel all it did was add stress to our pregnancy. So... with the next one I will not ask for the NT scan. The only upside was that we got to see our baby on screen more.

This is of course only my experience and it is a personal choice for you. Good luck and wishing you a happy and healthy 9 months!