Blood test for Cystic Fibrosis

[Tazlet]

Can anyone tell me how long this takes to come back? I am sure the consultant told me a week but now the midwife has said 2 weeks - the waiting is making me go crazy!!

I was told a week, but had been waiting for more than a week and was juuust about to ring the hospital, when they rang me :) If the consultant said a week, I would just very politely ring the hospital and ask if they are back yet!

Thanks Bluebell - hope your results came back negative.

I felt really bad when I rang this morning and basically got told don't bother ringing as they take 2 weeks.

I just feel like I have this massive black cloud hanging over me and want to cry.

Mine did come back negative, although obviously that is no guarantee of not having CF, but just makes it much less likely! Why are you being tested, if you don't mind my asking? I had mine done because my baby's bowel showed up as slightly echogenic on the 20 week scan. The bowel looked normal again by the 22 week scan.

I'm so sorry they made you feel like that when you rang - especially as the consultant told you one week. Did you ring the hospital directly, or did you ring the midwife at your local GP surgery? When I got my results, the Fetal Medicine Unit at the hospital rang me. They never even sent the results through to my midwife, as far as I know. If you haven't spoken to the hospital yet, it might be worth ringing them, and explaining that you were told one week?

Really hope it goes well for you. Waiting for results is horrid. x

Mine was the same echogenic bowel - but it seemed to be less white by the time I saw the consultant.

I thought if you were a carrier of the gene then you couldn't pass it onto the baby?

Did you get virus tested too? I had that tested but more worried about CF as obviously I know a little more about that.

I spoke to the CFC unit directly and the receptionist spoke with the midwife that deals with the bloods - I've had issues with them before - they wanted me to wait over a week to even see the consultant in the first place!

Am glad yours came back negative - did they test your partner too?

Yes, I was tested for CMV as well, and came back totally negative - I've never had it at all, which did worry me slightly as I work with small children so I am at risk of catching it! I'm using lots of hand sanitiser at the moment!

Both you and your partner have to be carriers of the gene for your baby to be at risk of having CF. However, the CF test only looks for the most common gene mutations - there are a few less common mutations that it can't check for, but they are so uncommon that it is unlikely that you would have them. Did your consultant not explain that?

And yep, my partner got tested as well, and his results were also negative.

My consultant thought that the bowel had shown up as echogenic because I am fairly slim (well, I am when not pregnant!!!) - she thought the normal ultrasound settings might just have been too high for me.

So have you got another week to wait? Please try not to worry - even in the unlikely scenario that both you and your partner had the recessive CF gene, there's only, I think, a 25% chance that your baby would then have CF. And if your baby's bowel is looking less white now then I'm sure that must be a good sign? Fingers crossed for you and your baby.