Harmony prenatal test - anyone know about it

[RTchoke]

today I am having a new kind of prenatal test called Harmony. It's non-invasive and seems to just be a new kind of blood test plus the regular nuchal scan but it's much more accurate than the traditional nuchal blood test. Apparently it's nearly as accurate as a CVS but without any risk.

I'm the only person I know who is having this test and nobody else seems to have heard of it let alone have been offered it. I just wondered if others have and knowledge of it and how accurate it is.

Great news for both of you! I'm glad you had a better experience henryscat01 - sounds like your first one may just have been bad luck.

I had an NHS NT scan last time which put me at 1 in 65 (or was it 1 in 60, can't remember now!) but the FMC put me at 1 in 34. They were a week apart so presumably some things had fluctuated. However I came away more relieved from the FMC scan because she went into such detail with the scan and said she could honestly see nothing troublesome at all (with the obvious caveats over it being early still) - I think she probably checked for everything she could at that gestation though!

At my anomaly scan with them at 18 weeks (again, massively more in depth than the NHS one) I had the professor come in and he looked at DS and at the findings and turned to me and said "Your baby does not have Down Syndrome, I am certain" or words to that effect.. now that's confidence, and he was right. He was far more interested in my recently-placed abdominal cerclage!

And yes, the DVD is excellent! Very happy with that.

That's very interesting the other company there does the sex of the baby. Assuming all is okay with baby, I like the idea of getting the sex that way as I could get them to write it on a bit of paper so I could share the moment with DH (who can never make any scans) later.

Two more days until I go in for the first part and the bloodwork. I can hear baby on the doppler much clearer than a week or so ago, so hopefully no unpleasant surprises, but I am still nervous just in case! People always seem to drop like flies around NT scan time on due date groups when they get scanned and it's all gone wrong. I'm due at the back of my month (March) so I'm seeing all the bad news before I go! This two week wait is going to be hard.. but nothing compared to my 20 week wait last time when I waited it out. Come on 1 in 10,000..

I went for a Harmony test at FMC last week and had a really good experience.

My NHS NT scan had come back with a risk of 1:107 for Downs because of absent nasal bone and low Papp-a results. I don't like the idea of an amnio of CVS because of the risk involved so I decided to go for the Harmony.

I was about 12+1 when I went for the NHS scan. When I went for the Harmony test at FMC I was 13+0 (they actually told me I was 12+6 but it was six days after my NHS scan so they are in disagreement about the dates!). By this time the nasal bone had ossified and they could see it on the scan. This gave me a risk of 1:5700 ish - much better! I don't know why the NHS don't just recommend another scan in a week's time if the nasal bone makes such a difference... Papp-a was still a bit low but apparently that is much less significant on its own.

Anyway I decided to have the Harmony test anyway, and am waiting for the results. I didn't know you could find out the sex through this test so didn't ask - but I'll see if they can tell me when I get the results.

I didn't get a DVD from the scan though (boo) but maybe that would have been an extra cost. The scanning was very good. My baby was facing the wrong way the whole time so the doctor spent ages trying to get a good view. She was really thorough and patient and I felt confident she would keep trying til she'd seen everything she needed to. Funnily enough the thing that worked in getting the baby to turn round was to go and drink a hot chocolate - don't know why that would work when jumping up and down didn't!

Hi there,

Not sure if anyone else has been, but I had the harmony tests done at the Edinburgh Clinic last week. The cost was £750 which included the scan, the harmony bloods and diagnosis of the sex of the baby. Despite a fab scan at 12 wks on the NHS (clear nasal bone and low NT of 1.3mm) I came back high risk (1:144) primarily down to my bloods (low Papp and high Hcg) Coupled with the fact that I am 40, I probably should have seen it coming.

Thankfully found out about Harmony from a friend and we didn't hesitate to book it. Now sitting in the agonising "wait" zone for our results. I'm hoping and praying we get them today or tomorrow as I don't think I can cope with another weekend of waiting.

I had the first part of my Harmony test at the FMC today. As before, a very good experience! Baby is somehow already measuring 4 days ahead (I charted and got a BFP at 8dpo so I know my dates are right!) so yet another high percentile baby like my first two.. no surprises there.

She took my blood for both Harmony and the NT screening which surprised me as I thought they took the blood for the NT screening at the same time as the NT scan and nuchal measurement.

Anyway, I asked about sex and Harmony(!) and they said for an extra £10 they would request it, and stuck extra stickers on and ticked extra boxes! I'm surprised they never offered that to anyone else? Maybe it's a really new thing. Anyway, so long as the results are valid, I should know all of the results in two weeks when I go back for the NT screen. They said if they aren't valid they make one more attempt for free.

It feels a lot easier waiting for results this time without the weight of an NT screen positive over me.. I'll still get the NT odds of course, but Harmony will pretty much supercede them.

I literally scraped in on the last day. Given we had been trying for 13 cycles for this baby, that was incredibly lucky.. saved £400!

Hope everyone else gets great results

Hi just to say we had our results from the fmc a few days ago and it was good news! NT risk of 1/2000 and Harmony less than 1/10000. Plus a very detailed scan which was all normal. She was pretty sure from the scan that it was a boy!! So am feeling very reassured .

Our local private clinic were charging £750 for the harmony only, whereas we paid £180 and had NT, Harmony and two detailed scans!! Well worth it even with the extra travel costs.

Hurray, congratulations on the sense of relief!!

The NT scans there are amazing compared to the NHS ones.. I felt so spoilt by the one I had with DS last time I would have gone there Harmony or not for this one!

I get the second part a week on Friday

Hi. Just to say we got the harmony test results back and had good news too. Risk of less than 1 in 10,000. Very pleased. They said I could find out sex once I asked, if I paid £10 after which they would phone lab in America. Probably would have gone for it if they'd offered it in the first place but not sure I can be bothered now - will find out at 20 weeks anyway.

That's great news! What a lovely relief.

Interesting that they can find it out even if they didn't report it initially.. I guess they must check for it regardless as I can't imagine for just a tenner they'd retest the whole lot. Plus surely they must discard the blood after testing too!

yes, I think they must check for it but not tell you unless you ask!

Just out of interest, how do they give you the information when you return for the NT scan? Do you find out the Harmony results first, or do they do the scan and then tell you? Do they tell you verbally, or by showing you a printout and talking it through with you?

Just curious because (assuming all is well with the results.. trying very hard not to think about that!) given they are hopefully going to give me the sex too, it would be nice if I could somehow keep that hidden so I could share "the moment" with DH later at home as he can't make it! But if they wave it under my nose I can hardly not see..

Hi she told me everything was ok so far as we walked in the room, but then did the scan and nuchal fold measurement before discussing the results in detail. I think that was in case any abnormalities were seen on the scan. Then she calculated my nt risk on the computer which already had the blood tests entered I think. Then confirmed harmony was also low risk. We were shown a letter with the results but I'm sure you could ask not to see it - if the sex is on the same sheet.

We were given a typed letter with the results to take home so I would think you could ask to have the nt and harmony results during the appointment, and have the baby's sex written in the letter?

Thank you very much, that was exactly what I was after! I was hoping it would be something like that - from past experience you only get the letters/printouts at reception when you leave having already been verbally informed of any results, so there's no actual need to look at it then and there.

I am so glad they give you some reassurance before the scan (presumably based on the Harmony results!) I would be on pins and needles even more than I would be anyway.. I so wish I could go back to the naive innocence most people seem to have about NT screening. It was bad enough screening positive, I have no idea how people who have a positive diagnosis cope with subsequent NTs.

for your help!

9 days to go..

Hi
does any know if !80 deal is still available as someone said end of August and then end of September.

anyone know
thanks sarah

Hi crispyFB will keep my fingers crossed for you!!

Thanks onceipopicantstop

craftysarahp - when I went in on Friday, they said it was the last day of the deal and how lucky I was etc etc just scraping in. So I guess it is end of August. No harm in ringing and asking just in case they extended it though? Where did you hear September?

Good luck crispyFB - sure all will be fine.

I can't answer your last question because I had the scan and Harmony test at the same time, having already had an NHS nuchal scan.

Thanks MrsDibble! And yep, that would be different. Last time out (no Harmony) I was shown my results on the computer screen at my NT scan I seem to recall, then had a printout later.

It was all a bit unfortunate actually - I hoped I'd get better results there, especially after the NT scan had gone so perfectly, then I saw my blood results after the scan which were even worse than the NHS ones! I went from 1 in 65 NHS to 1 in 34 FMC, bleh. However the quality and depth of the scan more than made up for the reduction of odds and I felt a lot more reassured having seen the detail and things they checked for. Love the FMC!

Hi, I started a thread in pregnancy and was kindly directed here by another poster.
I have a question- my clinic uses two providers of the test, harmony and one other and they've asked me to chose. She told me they they are both the same really, both thorough BUT, she said the main advantage with the one that wasn't harmony was that if the test failed first time, it was unlikely to fail second time. Not sure how important this is or whether just to opt for harmony due to 'name'. Anyone else had a choice. I've. Got time to decide as not due to go until end of Oct as just newly pregnant.

Out of interest, did she say the name of the non Harmony test?

Congratulations on your pregnancy btw!!

Hi crispy, think it was called nifty or niccy or something like that. She told me it was probably slightly better but less well known.

Sounds like NIFTY - not come across that one before! It seems to be Chinese in origin (unlike the others which are more US-originated) which is presumably why. There's not much information out there on it right now, but I guess your doctor has more information than both of us so I would trust her opinion!

THANK F--K FOR HARMONY everyone!

Today I got my results and I am beyond grateful I got them BEFORE I had my NT screening.. that I did the FMC route with Harmony from the beginning, and not the "NHS - argh crap results - Harmony" route. If it hadn't been for my pregnancy last time screening positive it would never have occurred to me to go for Harmony first.

Harmony is negative

NT screening is.. a disaster. 1 in 5 risk of T21.

Age: 37
NT: 2.7mm (above 95th percentile)
PAPP-A: 0.73MoM (close to normal)
bHCG: 5.43MoM (WTF is all I can say, it is off most charts)

The bloodwork alone had me at 1 in 16 even before they found the nuchal was high.

I think I would have passed out if I'd got that on the NHS and had to wait two weeks for Harmony.

Nevertheless, having these numbers is useful. The raised nuchal means I have a cardiac scan at 20 weeks as it can indicate issues with the heart that might otherwise be missed on a regular scan. Heart looked fine today but it is too early to be sure.

The high bHCG can indicate an issue with the placenta so I'll need to be regularly checked for growth.

Apparently it also accounts for why I've felt more sick this pregnancy than any of my others. I do have naturally high early betas - this can also make later ones higher. And I had bleeding not long before.. again, that often raises the bHCG. So there are possible benign reasons behind the high level, but still

I am just beyond grateful that this test exists. My sanity is grateful. My DH is grateful he doesn't have to deal with me flipping out and panicking!

As for the sex, she kindly put it in a sealed envelope that DD1 will open and tell us about later when she gets home from school I guess they're used to being asked to do this!!

How much can you expect to pay for the Harmony now? I am a bit confused as £750 has been quoted here but the fmc website says £400 + £180 for the scan.

Yep, that's what the FMC charge. I don't know if they will do Harmony without the scan or not though.

I should add that other clinics are more expensive and I've not heard of anywhere else as cheap. Maybe the FMC makes up the difference by insisting on the scan?