16 week scan reassurance

[Laura236]

Hi girls

During my 12 week scan we were told out NT was high at 3.6mm. We got our results back that day and we're low at 1:179. This was too on the cusp for us so we decided to pay for the NIPT test. This came back fine but we were still booked in for an extra scan at 16 weeks scan.

The scan was today and all was good. But after the scan the consultant started saying we should have the abiotic fluid testing if we wanted to be sure as there's only so much a scan can show. This has made me feel a bit uneasy to be honest.

Everything measured good, heartbeat was strong and connected but she kept saying there's been cases where baby has looked fine and NT has been normal and still been born with something. I know they have to be realistic but it was very strong.

Before we got our previous results back we were also told if we didn't come back high risk we would not be offered additional testing but if we wanted to we could pay for NIPT test. Now she's offering the invasive when we seem to be low risk on all accounts?

Anyone else had the same?? Thank you xx

Hi
What was the 1:179 for? The nipt picks up almost all cases of the three main tristomy issues I believe. A false negative is rare. Of course I'm not a specialist in this. Thinking of you

@Missingmydarling this was my risk rating for chromosomal abnormalities before we got the NIPT test. 1-150 is high risk. Anything higher is classed as low risk but still thought it was quite on the cusp xx

Yes but it should break the risk down for Downs (tristomy 21) and then for Edwards /Patau? For all three of these the nipt picks up about 99% of cases. You'd be unlikely to get past the 20 week scan without it being picked up. Personally I wouldn't have the amnio as if have faith in the nipt (apart from the false positives but you'd only be worried about false negatives which are v rare)

@Missingmydarling she was basically saying we've done the NIPT which tests for syndromes but there are more things that could be wrong so we should do the am up to be sure as a scan doesn't show everything and things can be missed.

My issue if if you come back low risk, you don't get offered anymore tests on the NHS and you can only pay privately for the NIPT so that's what we went for and it came back good.

Now she's saying that isn't that great because doesn't test for everything like the amino and offering that. So why weren't we offered this in the first place when I was worried after the 12 week scan.

I've finally started to feel reassured and she's made me feel like I shouldn't be. Even the midwife couldn't believe what she was saying. X

Ah I see, because of the high nt at 12 weeks. That's very disconcerting for you that was said. I'm surprised if the 16 week scan was OK that there are stoll concerns. I suppose it's about weighing up the miscarriage risk with the chance something is wrong. Your 20 week scan will give you a lot of information. Good luck with the rest of the pregnancy.

Hi @Laura236 Sorry you’ve had an uneasy experience with the consultant :( I had similar - our son’s NT was 4.7mm at 12 weeks and despite the low risk results through NIPT, the consultant and midwife we saw at another hospital (my local one had a longer wait) weren’t very reassuring. They suggested that whilst NIPT tested for the 3 most common trisomies (and isn’t a definitive test), there were other chromosomal abnormalities that the high NT could represent. I felt quite dismissed when I said I didn’t feel comfortable having the CVS (I’m not sure if they thought I was wasting their time but the screening midwife at my local hospital suggested I go to the meeting undecided and have a chat about things which is what I did). I didn’t have the procedure and as it happens my placenta wasn’t in the right position for it anyway!

Over the following couple of weeks I came to the decision that I needed to know as much information as possible and for us the right decision was to have the amnio. I was suffering from huge anxiety (I had had 2 previous losses) and felt I would just worry so much during the rest of the pregnancy. But it is a very personal decision as there are obviously risks with an invasive procedure. I must say the only way I could feel comfortable enough about it (particularly after the experience with the not v sympathetic consultant) was to pay to go and see Prof Nicolaides privately. He was absolutely wonderful.

Ours was a happy outcome - our little boy had a clear amnio and fetal echo scan - it was put down to likely being just ‘one of those things’. He is coming up for his second birthday and is happy and healthy!

I think it’s only a decision you can make and my heart goes out to you as I agonised over it but one day I woke up and just knew what I needed to do. I’m not sure if that helps ❤️ I would say that I definitely felt reassurance from the NIPT results for the 3 trisomies it tests for.

Good luck and wishing you all the best for a smooth pregnancy xxx