Private NIPT

[LemonDrizz]

This is my first pregnancy, 10+4 and I am 36. I am wondering whether to pay to have an NIPT done for peace of mind as they are so much more accurate than the combined test you get via NHS.

Did anyone opt to pay for NIPT and if so, how did you choose who to use as there are so many companies??

Honestly at this point I would wait. If your combined screening at 12 weeks comes back as high risk then you will have an NIPT anyway if you choose to go that route over the more invasive testing x

It’s about £400 and there are different types, Harmony is the one most people know but there are others. My hospital offers it privately but the woman never got back to me so I just googled it in my area and was booked in within a day.

I got the results before my 12 week scan took place so I phoned them to let them know and they said not to bother with the scan as I’d had others not long before.

It’s completely up to you. If the screening scan and bloods show a high risk your hospital will offer the NIPT for free or subsidised. It’s such a personal decision. I didn’t want to know the sex but you can find out early with the NIPT if you want to.

I did because I was 40 and NHS scans were so slow at the time (my booking scan wasn't until 13.5 weeks). I knew that if something had shown up I wanted to be able to make decisions and take action as early as possible, so it was worth it for me. Got the results at 10 weeks (and found out that it was a boy) It gave me peace of mind, but had I been younger, I probably wouldn't have.

Yes these are my thoughts too... IF there is something then I would want to know sooner rather than later. I have my booking appointment Wednesday so will see what the midwife thinks in relation to my age etc....

if you get high risk at the combined test, nhs offers you a free nipt but it only tests for the 3 main conditions: down, edwards, patau. And they say it usually takes 2 weeks to come back (but mine was 1 week).

I’ve done private too, bc private they test for more chromosomal abnormalities. As a bonus they tell you the sex too. They usually come back in one week. For my first pregnancy when there was no nhs option, it took about 7-9 working days though to come back (they told me the lab had a lot to process). That was 5 years ago. This time it took a week.

both time I chose a company that sends the blood to an uk lab, some send to USA labs, but it might take more time to get the results back or they might mess up the blood. You can ask they will tell you.

even if the combined test would have come back with low risk for me (but both times I got high risk), I would still have gone for the nipt too, bc of my age (37 and 42).

tbh I would have done it regardless of age, so not to be anxious the whole pregnancy.

• more babies with DS are born to young mothers, bc more babies in general are born to younger mothers, but I think it’s also bc they usually get low risk (which doesn’t mean no risk) and they don’t do any further checks, while older women do.

www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=pregnancy-over-age-30-90-P02481

Yes I paid privately for the NIPT test due to my age - 38. We also found out the sex really early on which was a bonus x

I had a private NIPT but only because there were white patches in my baby's bowel area as well as another marker, and the wait for an NHS NIPT would have put me very close to the cut off for a termination as the wait was so long. I would wait if I were you.

I paid privately for the NIPT at 13 weeks. Some hospitals offer NIPT under NHS but you have to have been screened as high risk before being offered.
I would say the test itself is really thorough and I am glad I had it done for reassurance purposes.

But definitely do your research with companies. I would go with a personal recommendation in the future.

I used a company in London The Medical Chambers Kensington and had to have my bloods taken three times as there was a mix up with bloods being collected. I was then told my bloods had been received and being processed when they hadn't which delayed the whole process even further.

The whole situation was so so stressful and caused anxiety for weeks before I finally got my results.

A situation I wouldn't want anyone to go through.

Good luck

I honk all hospitals in uk now offer free nipt test, provided you get a high risk at the combined test between 11-14 weeks. It started with some in 2018 but has been rolled out to all since.

This was exactly my situation!