Am I burying my head in the sand?

[varicoseveined]

Hello everyone,

When I was pregnant with DD (now age 3), I was 31 and was told that there was a 1:149 risk of her having Down's syndrome. Turns out that she didn't, and I refused any invasive testing and tried to focus on enjoying my pregnancy.

I'm 12 weeks now and my first scan is due on Wednesday and I immediately said no to the nuchal as I don't want to be worried sick when it may not be necessary, and my DH agrees but now I'm wondering if I should change my mind? Anyone else not bother with the nuchal scan?

Also do AFP blood tests reveal anything other than possibility for DS?

I had no tests for Downs as I knew whether baby was diagnosed or not I would still continue with pregnancy and there would be little preparation to be made. I did have test for, hmm, is it Spina Bifida, as if baby had been diagnosed changes would have been needed to the equipment we had.

AFP is possibility only, then amnio for certain results.

What would you do with the information? It sounds like you wouldn't want CVS or amnio, so why give yourself cause for worry? Anything they need to know about before the birth will manifest itself on the 20 week scan.

I didn't have the nuchal scan.(It isn't offered where I am and I would have had to travel 2+ hours to have it done privately though that wasn't the reason why I didn't have it done.) I wasn't prepared to have an amnio or CVS so having discussed it with the midwife felt it was of no benefit. I've not had the blood tests at 16 weeks either as my age (42) would make me high risk regardless of anything else. I'm 17 weeks now and will be having the anomaly scan at 20/21 weeks.

We didn't have nuchal for ds3. Would have had to pay and we wouldn't have terminated for DS anyway. My main concern was anencephaly and that would almost certainly have been picked up by a regular scan or blood test.

Thanks everyone for your input, I'm sticking to my original choice not to have the nuchal scan done, I suppose I just wanted to make sure that there aren't other purposes for nuchal scan/AFP than for assessing the possibility of DS.

Hi Varicoseveind,
I am in exactly the same position as you. I had the triple blood test when pregnant with my DD and she was "high risk" for downs. I, like you refused the invasive tests and tried to put it to the back of my mind. She is now a very healthy 4.5 year old and I am pregnant with number 2. I am 36 now and had my booking in appointment with midwife today (I am about 8 wks pregant). I told her that I did not want the triple test as I don't feel I could do anything with the result and she then explained how the test is now different and more accurate as it is the combined test and involves a nuchal scan... this left me a bit
But after some pondering tonight I too am sticking with my choice not to test. Was nice to stumble across your thread as it has made me feel stronger about my decision.

Hey Purplefan, glad to see you feel better about your decision. When I saw the MW after my scan today she remarked, "So you just had a dating scan and not the nuchal. Good for you!" in a non-patronising tone. That made me feel better too as I'm 34 and will be 35 on my EDD. I was expecting some grilling as to why not!