did anyone hear that discussion about an increase in the number of Down's babies being born?

[edam]

Heard it in the trails for Woman's Hour but missed the programme. Apparently more babies are being born with Down's despite all the ante-natal testing. Surprised me as the impression from MN threads was that testing was leading more parents to abort for Down's. Kind of positive news on attitudes to SN for once? Maybe?

I heard that on the radio too and thought it was wonderful that attitudes were changing.

Hallelujah to the news

Welcome to the world babies of all flavours, for you are all pretty fab.

yes i heard something about it on the radio early this morning...somebody said something about it showing that more people are willing to bring up a Down's child these days...does seem to indicate a more positive attitude, which is good

if it's true that is pretty bloody brilliant.

here is alink to the story on the bbc.

telegraph
says "The findings will be featured in the documentary "Born with Down's Syndrome" to be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 8pm today."

More older mums, so the % of Downs babies will be higher, and people these days have a better attitude towards these kids.

The most lovely comment I heard was a woman with a Downs child who said that she hadn't have the test beforehand and said that when she heard the news she was cuddling her beautiful baby, and she didn't regret having the baby. Aparently 2 Downs babies born in the UK every day.

I think it's brilliant news . Makes such a change from the usual 'search and destroy' headlines about Downs syndrome.

I heard it on the news this morning and I thought it was wonderful news it did pee me off a bit though how it was worded on ITN.

More down syndrome babies are been born despite regular screening in pregnancy.
{hmm].

Hmm, I though that too FIVE about the wording (plus ref to 'Downs babies' )Almost as if despite all best efforts they were still being born.

its poeple with Downs syndrome not Down's babies or Downsn sufferers.

I just thought it could have been worded a lot better .

my friend has a little girl with down syndrome and the support group she went to all reffered to it at as Downs

none of them ever thought anything about it

I agree with the poor wording on ITN

BUT its still something to be celebrated I think

Oh its not calling it Downs

if you say sadie has downs, thats OK (I think, self doubting now)

its if you say Sadie is Downs its not Ok- becuase she may HAVE Downs but she is so much more than her DX.

yep peachy - that's how I see it
dd2 has Down's and she is certainly a lot more than any diagnosis

i think its very positive.

I heard this on R4, and also thought that the wording of the headline had implicit surprise that this was the case - in spite of the tests, more babies with Down's are being born. As if that was a bad thing and as if everyone who gets a positive test result would automatically terminate...

yes I heard it on 5 live this morning.

They had a woman on there with a baby with ds. She said that she found out when she was 23 weeks pg but it never occurred to her to terminate the pregnancy.

Sadly she said though that the worst attitude she'd ever seen displayed towards someone with downs was when a young man with ds was in a supermarket and was being very badly swarn at and abused by... ... of all people... a man in a wheelchair.

She also said that her own partner had been unable to come to terms with their dd's disabilities and they were now separated

But there was another couple with expecting a child with DS and they were very excited. They said they saw it as an opportunity to make new friends and look at life in another way...so not all doom and gloom.

I think in fairness the surprise indicated in the headlines is a reaction to the fact that testing initially created a heavy decline in the number of children being born withthe syndrome.
the fact that the numbers are now increasing is probably a surprise to uninvolved people as I think the world at large expects testing to equate to termination.
It is hugely heartening to see that this is not in fact the case and that greater awareness is increasing societies acceptance that people living with Downs syndrome should be prized and valued as any other group within society.
Yay

On the wording can I say that saying "down's baby" is only really bad if you think having Down's is something to be ashamed of. After all I'd say "my tall friend" and "my electrician friend" It wouldn't occur to me to say "my friend who is tall" or "my friend who is employed as an electrician.

Of course it depends on the context, but "we treated 4 diabetics, two down's and a heart attack" would be just a verbal shorthand in a hospital.

Yes - I would certainly say DD is asthmatic, or neice is deaf without meaning for a second that they are only the sum of their DX.

surely an increase in babies with downs syndrome does not necessarily indicate a decrease in terminations or a change in the percentage of people who think positively about it

there are more older mothers than ever before so there could well be more babies born with the condition AND more babies terminated because of it at the same time simply because there are more of them being conceived?

I think its probably just a case of the journalists making statistics show what THEY want them to show

onager

I understand what you are saying to a point but saying 'my tall friend' does not have the same connotations as 'my autistic son'.

When you say 'my electrician friend' I would imagine that few people that you are talking to would imediately make assumptions that he will always be wearing his workgear and will carry his equipment every where he goes and be unable to engage in conversation about anything other than electrical matters......