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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Anyone had the new neck measurment test for downs?

29 replies

del1 · 02/03/2011 11:19

Hiya, I had my 12 week scan yesterday, and opted for the new test they do for downs syndrome.
It started on Monday where we live, and not many people took it.
The scan measures the fold of skin at the back of the babys neck, which apparently gives a percentage of the baby having downs.
I had the blood test also.
I didnt really take everything in, and just said yes to be honest. The midwife only briefly told me about it.
Was just wondering if they are doing this anywhere else?
Or if anyone has had results back?
Are they more confusing than simple blood test, or is the risk percentage more accurate?
They couldnt tell me about the results,because being one of the first, no one has had results back yet?

OP posts:

Mamaz0n · 02/03/2011 11:23

I am fairly sure they measured both my DC's neck during my scans.

my DC are 10 and 6 though so i am assuming this is something different. But they just measured the thickness of the skin at the back of the neck. if it wasn't too high it was considered a lower risk.

FeralGirlCambs · 02/03/2011 11:37

Hi - not heard of anything new as such, but maybe it's new to your area. Round here they have for some years measured something at the back of the neck called the nuchal fold. I believe it's meant to be more accurate than bloods alone. See Here

GwennieF · 02/03/2011 11:43

I had the combined blood and nuchal fold test with DD. I was told by my midwife that it was more accurate than either a blood test or nuchal fold on its own. Mine came back as a 1:50000 (roughly) chance of having abnormalities, compared to 1:18000 for DS 20 months previously (blood test only).

I don't know if the difference in the results was due to a more accurate test or the fact that DS was at a higher risk, OR a combination of the two.

Don't know if this will be of any help to you. I found it really difficult to decide what tests to have or even if I wanted to have any tests at all...

eastegg · 02/03/2011 11:45

Hi del1. My hospital is the large London teaching hospital which pioneered this scan (nuchal translucency scan I think?) so they've been doing it for a while. I had it with DS who's nearly 2. Personally I think it's really good. The idea is they look at a number of factors, including the measurement you've referred to, to give a more accurate risk assessment rather than just looking at age and blood tests. The results will come back as a one-in-however-many chance of the baby having Downs, and if it's above a certain chance they offer amnio or CVS. At my hospital they give the results there and then at the 12 week scan (which I wasn't expecting!) but I don't think it's unusual to have to wait for them.

captainbarnacle · 02/03/2011 12:39

Hi. I had the NT scan with DC1 who is now 4.5yrs. With DC2 I had combined NT measurement and bloods, and the same with this DC3. Had to wait a few days for a letter - they phone you if you are classed as 'high risk'.

Original poster

del1 · 02/03/2011 15:07

Thanks for all the replies. I am in Chester, and they didnt have this test for my 2 year old, or 8 month old.
We must be behind the times eh!!
I presume then that I will find out at my next midwife appointment.
Thanks again everyone

OP posts:

jasmine51 · 02/03/2011 15:15

Yes had this as standard in Oxfordshire. Not all authorities do it but its catching on. They also do the blood test but if the percentage is low enough they dont offer amnio or cvs. My percentage was medium risk, but good enough for me so I didnt go any further

LearningFast · 02/03/2011 16:11

This is standard procedure in Northamptonshire for Mum's who are over 35 (free of charge). I think others can also have it but may have to pay? The results which are given initially are simply High Risk or Low Risk. We came out as Low Risk but as I was interested to know a bit more I asked for the actual (statistical) chance of there being a problem, which my midwife was able to find out with a phone call.

Themumsnot · 02/03/2011 16:13

Wow - I had this in London with DD1 who is now almost 14 - years not months! I had no idea it wasn't standard in a lot of places.

thisisyesterday · 02/03/2011 16:18

where i am the nuchal translucency test is standard and has been for at least 6 years as I had it with ds1, but I do know that not everywhere even offers a 12 week scan, so doesn't surprise me that some areas don't offer it, or have only jsut started doing so

hope you get the results in soon.
you should have got results of the NT measurement at the time though? they normally give a measurement in millimetres, it will be on yout notes

BlingLoving · 02/03/2011 16:20

Yes, we had it done. It was fine. We got the results at the time of the scan - but they had insisted that I take the blood test well over a week before so that they could look at the results together in the scan.

Mine was very reassuring at 1:9800!

tiokiko · 02/03/2011 17:03

It's standard for everyone in Northamptonshire - I had it with DD 3 years ago and it had been introduced a few months before that.

Have just moved to Edinburgh and it was introduced here in January for everyone who wants it.

FYI they don't always give you the actual numbers (eg 1:9800 or whatever), but may just tell you whether your results have come back as low or high risk.

megansmummy1 · 02/03/2011 20:47

not standard practice everywhere i'm afraid, i had it with DD 3.5yrs ago and will have it agin this time but my sister who lives in the next county would have to pay £250 if she wanted it!

ladysybil · 02/03/2011 20:49

hunh>? where do you live? i'm sure i had this test with almost ten year old ds.

PaulaYatesbiggestfan · 02/03/2011 20:50

my ds is 8 and i had it with him
my friend had it with her ds who is 12 in June

StickThemWithThePointyEnd · 02/03/2011 20:58

I had this test with this pregnancy, and it's standard in the Trust I live in now, but when I had DS two years ago I was living somewhere else, and would have had to pay to even get a dating scan, nevermind an NT scan.

BadRoly · 02/03/2011 21:04

It was rolled out in Oxfordshire while I was pg with dc4. We were slightly too early to have it but at the dating scan, the radiographer asked if she could practise the techniques and as a result referred us for a proper nuchal scan. The nuchal scan showed high risk for abnormalities. We had the blood test too, the combined results lowered the "risk" to medium. In the end it turned out that dc4 has congenital heart defects which is one of the things an "abnormal" nuchal fold measurement can indicate. It is not just a test for Downs.

moodymoo · 02/03/2011 21:20

They have just rolled out tnis test as standard in Leeds, prior to this you had to pay for it.My consultant told me it has replaced the triple test as it is much more reliable . As we were under a consultant for other reasons we had the nuchal measurement done, as the result was so good she didn't do the bloods. Unfortunatly my midwife worked on the theory that may as well do the triple test as well - this cam back as 1:25 and left us with such conflicting results. We opted against an amnio but the whole pregnancy has been spent worrying about what may or may not happen. Everyone we have spoken to have said that the Nuchal fold test results are much more reliable and that there are so many false negatives with the triple test.
I guess my advice is that if you go for the nuchal fold test don't go for the triple test as well.

MandaHugNKiss · 02/03/2011 21:42

Had this scan for all four of my pregnancies and my first 'baby' turns 16 years next week! Was only with my last (who will be one in just over a week ) that I had the bloods too - my risk came back at 1:13000 and as I was somewhat mature, I found it very reassuring.

NT for this baby was on Monday and a lovely low number along with nasal bone present - hoping bloods will also confirm a similarly low risk as last time.

Northernlurker · 02/03/2011 21:49

I think it's apalling OP that this test was done without you being properly informed about how the information was gathered and translated or what happens next.
Your hospital really needs to get it's act together because this test produces results which are not always easy to understand and which may encourage you to seek further testing. It is absolutely not something you should feel you just have to say yes to.

eastegg · 03/03/2011 09:26

Completely agree, northernlurker. My hospital sends out quite a detailed booklet about all screening tests offered including the NT scan, and it says that you should seriously consider not having it if you wouldn't want to face the choice of continuing the pregnancy without further testing or having amnio etc if get a high result. There are big potential implications that I get the feeling many people don't think about/aren't told about. Although my hospital's written info is good, at the actual scan nobody spoke to me about the options (no time I suppose) so if I hadn't read and thought about it in advance I would've just sailed into it. As I said above, I think it's a good test to have and I'm having it again this time, but people need to make their own minds up. I didn't say any of this in my first post because OP's had it now and that's that, but I do agree.

WinterLover · 03/03/2011 11:16

I had mine a few weeks ago. They did bloods at the same time as scan and I got my results through the post within a few days.. 1:63,000 they said if it was high risk they ring within 3 days.

Original poster

del1 · 03/03/2011 19:52

OMG - loads of replies.
And there was me, thinking I was one of the first to have it done!!
Well, I had it done on monday, so presume I would have heard by now if there was a problem.
I'm dissapointed to hear that a lot of you had leaflets about it, or had the results explained on the day!
Im in Chester, and we're obviously living in the stone age!

OP posts:

ALovelyBunchOfCoconuts · 03/03/2011 20:34

Hi del1 I am current;y 9 weeks pregnant and had my booking in appointment only today. I also received a rather extensive booklet detailing all the screening tests on offer. I have declined the nuchal scan as I couldn't face having to make choices over a pregnancy I have longed for for so long. But as I understand it, it has definitely been around in Lincolnshire for many years :)

WinterLover · 03/03/2011 21:03

You from lincs too??

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