Is it normal not to be given indication whether nuchal test measurements look normal?

[kaymondo]

Hi all
Just a query really as i had my 12 week scan yesterday and they took the measurement from the back of baby's neck for the combined downs testing. I guess i was expecting them to give some kind of indication as to whether the measurements were looking normal or not, but i've just been told i'll get the results through the post in a few weeks when my blood results come through. Is this normal? Just wondering what other people's experiences have been?
Thanks!

I had mine on Tues. The doctor scanning us didn't tell us but she did show us the form she sent away with the blood which indicated 1.7mm. Before she began the scan she mentioned that if it was above 3.5mm she would tell us. Hope that helps.

I think that's pretty normal - they use the bloods to help calculate the risk. Hth

for the result to be accurate, it has to be computed in combination with the blood results, which in turn have to take account of age, ethnicity, smoking status etc- so the measurement alone is not a lot of help

Is it not on the piece of paper they gave you? They didn't tell me when I had mine (2 weeks ago) until I asked. I asked if everything looked normal she said yes. I then asked what the nuchal measurement was, she said 2.9mm and that that was in the normal range (made the mistake of googling it and worrying myself!!).

My advice firstly is to check your notes, it should say and if it doesn't give them a call in teh morning and ask what the measurement was. Ask if they have your results through from your bloods. Mine were through in 48 hours. Incidently my risk is 1:153 so technically low risk (1:150 is high risk so I'm pretty close).

Good luck x

As far as I know it's perfectly normal not to give you an indication of good or bad result. I asked at my 12 week scan and was told that they could give me the measurement but aren't allowed to comment on it. This is because the blood test/ age of mother all need to be taken into account too and you could easily panic without cause if they said it was a bad measurement or the measurement could be fine but combined with the rest of the tests your risk could be higher.
Don't panic though I'm sure alls well :-)

There's a load of calculations involving your age, lifestyle, blood test results and scan results that have to be done, so they can't give you a definite answer at the time. At my scan I was told the measurements were OK, but she stressed very strongly that this didn't mean anything without the other results.

The sonographer who did nine made it very clear before she started that i'd be given the measurements but she couldn't comment on them as they dont really mean much without the bloods. Que me going on google when I got home finding out that my measurement was on the high side of normal. Lots of panic and worry. Then I got it thru with the bloods end result was something like 1 in 160000. So my advice would be just wait till you get the combined blood results thru!

I was told that the number on its own "didn't mean that much" without the blood test. Obviously that isn't entirely true as if it was really high it would be worrying with or without the blood test. So I would assume that yours isn't or else they would have told you so. Mine, which was 1.9 mm at 12+5 weeks, was recorded on my notes from the scan.

Thanks for your replies everyone - nice to know that it is normal not to be told, although I'm surprised the sonographer didn't clarify that (altho i suppose i should have asked!)
She didn't tell me what the measurement was, but i was watching her when she did it and it was around 1.5mm so doesn't sound too dissimilar to other peoples. I'm not going to google it - will stick it in the back of my mind and wait for the results to come through.

Thanks again!