Harmony / NIPT testing in Yorkshire

[Hogglebear]

Hi,

I am newly pregnant (6+3) and trying to get my head around all options available as soon as I can, in particular the harmony / NIPT testing so that I am in the best informed position to make any decisions should I need to.
First of all if anyone can help explain the differences between the tests please that would be amazing... So far I've seen harmony, NIPT and CVS referred to and I'm so far really unsure of the differences.
Secondly if anyone has been for any of these tests in Yorkshire or close to Yorkshire, please could you let me know your experiences? It's a bit of a minefield trying to work out what tests are available and where to have them done.
Thanks so much x

Hi @Hogglebear
The harmony is a non-invasive prenatal test (nipt), they take blood from the mother's arm and look for fetal DNA and test this. It checks for downs, pataus and Edwards syndrome. It is a screening test not a diagnostic. My understanding is that as it is screening, the answer is not 100% absolute. But it is highly likely that if you get a negative result your baby is unaffected, it can give some false positives. You can have this from 10 weeks. There is no risk to the pregnancy from this test.

The CVS is a diagnostic invasive test that involves taking a sample from the placenta and testing the DNA for chromosomal issues. The amniocentesis is also a diagnostic test, but is performed later in pregnancy. My understanding is that they would only suggest you consider having this if your nuchal test or NIPT came back as high risk. There is a risk of miscarriage (1 in 200) with this test. Info on the invasive tests -
www.gov.uk/government/publications/cvs-and-amniocentesis-diagnostic-tests-description-in-brief

On the NHS they do a combined screening test around 10-13 weeks, the nuchal test which takes the nuchal measurement from the scan, two measurements for your blood and your age to give you a risk. If your risk comes back high, you may be offered a nipt test (if your trust funds this) or a CVS/amino. This is to give a more accurate (nipt) or absolute answer (CVS/amino).

Our trust will offer you a harmony on the NHS if your nuchal test comes back at higher risk. We used this option when pregnant with my son, my nuchal was 1/126 risk and the harmony can back as almost certainly negative. We didn't do any follow up to this and it wasn't recommended by the NHS.

I am currently pregnant and over 40, so we have chosen to do either the harmony or panorama privately at 10 weeks, as waiting til the nuchal and follow up at 13 weeks (when it is booked in) seems too long!

Hope this helps. Xx

@KinderWild thank you so much for your reply. That's really useful. There's so much information out there (and abbreviations!) It can all be a bit overwhelming can't it. I'd hope the hospital would talk me through all this there and there but it's good to be prepared isn't it.
I hope all your tests go well xx

Sorry hope this isn’t too late to be useful but we used Miracle Inside in Leeds and an NIPT test. Got the results back today and we’ve been really impressed with the service. The website is confusing with the different brands of NIPT but they are great on the phone