CVS screening

[JennyC80]

Hello, I had a phone call from hospital this morning advising that I have 1 in 150 chances of having a baby with Down's syndrome. 150 is a cut off but I still have been offered CVS. I can't decide whether to have this done or not as CVS increases chances of miscarriage by 1%.
If anyone has been in similar situation or is facing the same dilemma right now please share your thoughts. Thank you!

I went for an amino as I couldn't face not knowing and worrying for my entire pregnancy.

I think that because DH and I knew that we wouldn't continue with a pregnancy with abnormalities it made for an easier decision.

But she's fine btw.

Good luck with your decision x

I also had an amnio (all was fine both with baby and me). Waiting for the results was the single most awful thing that has happened to me. The chance of having a miscarriage is so slim that if you feel it will spoil your pregnancy not to know then it's probably best to have it done. Rubbish decision all round I'm sorry and best of luck.

Exact same thing - told we were 1:137 had CVS and all was fine. We knew we would have baby whatever - good luck x

My results were low risk but if try had been high risk I would have opted for the further tests, as I know nothing about caring for a ds baby I would have liked to know as much as I could before the baby's arrival. X

I had a CBS test at 12 weeks. Standard here in Belgium
because of my age(43). No prior risk testing for downs. I was nervous about the risk of miscarriage and followed the prescribed 2 days of bed rest. All was fine and I now have a healthy 2 year old. I'd do the test if in the same position again.

I had it about 6 weeks ago, what a shit scary phone call that was...we decided to have the CVS (I had a 1:120 chance), as I felt like we would be worrying if I didn't.

I am not going to lie, it was a pretty traumatic experience, made worse by our consultant's inappropriate use of the word 'terminate' mid way through the procedure (he was talking to the registrar working with him about a measurement she was taking at the time, having just told me it was all ok).

If it hadn't been for that though, it would have been fine. I tried really hard to focus on the positives - it is less than 1% chance of having downs or any sort of other scary condition. I think the risk of miscarriage is very small, but I suppose it also depends on what you would do if you had a positive result - if you know you wouldn't go through with a termination, it may not be worth having the procedure.

They got me in really quickly (the day after the call), and if you get in before Wednesday, you will probably get the results by the end of the week (ours took two working days).

I think the worst thing about it was the anticipation before I had it done - the needle bit is over in about 15 mins, and you feel a bit crappy afterwards - period painy, but it is nothing too horrific. I think I just generally felt a bit emotionally crap afterwards rather then being in pain.

Then we got the results and it was all clear, and it meant that we could get on with the pregnancy without worrying so much. Lots of women in my area (Bedford) seem to be identified as needing this done, and they all have had a similar experience to me (except the thoughtless registrar...).

Ultimately, only you can decide, but if you do decide to go through with it and have any questions, let me know
xxx

CVS, obvs.

Hi JennyC80, have you seen the antenatal tests/choices subforum? There's a thread on a new blood test (variously called Harmony or Materniti21) which is a non-invasive new test for Downs. Unfortunately, it's not yet available on the NHS, and would set you back several hundred pounds and a trip to London, but it does mean that you don't need a CVS or amnio. I also had a 1:150 Downs risk and took it, getting reassuring results.

I know it's a stressful time, so good luck whatever you decide.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/antenatal_tests_choices/1599017-Harmony-prenatal-test-anyone-know-about-it?pg=1

I've had a CVS 3 times now. No miscarriage problems with any of them. Unfortunately two of them ended up leading to terminations but had the last one done at FMC in London because I'd had a few unrelated miscarriages since the previous CVS's and didn't want to take any risks at all. It cost me £500 in all including the NT Scan which i had there too but the miscarriage risk at Fetal Medicine Centre is actually only 1:500 as Prof Nicholaides is so incredibly skilled at doing them. It was well worth the money for me as I am now 30 weeks pregnant and have the peace of mind that there are no chromosomal abnormalities this time. FMC do the Harmony test now but unfortunately I think this came in a few weeks after I had my test.

I had an amnio and my odds were 1:12. Baby is clear of chromosonal abnormalities. I know it's not cvs but a similar procedure. I had an excellent experience with nhs, they were very supportive and it did not hurt, I had no bleeding or cramps afterwards. You are scanned throughout so they can keep an eye on baby. Good luck.

Thank you so much to all of you! I feel reassured. Just waiting for a call from them with an appointment. Fingers crossed all goes well :) xx

Hope all goes well Jenny- don't forget to take it easy after the procedure. There's no actual evidence (so I was told) to say this reduces the risk of miscarriage, but it's a good excuse to relax for a couple of days.

FWIW, if you were one higher ie. 1:151, you wouldn't have been high risk. Is it your age that has skewed the result or the blood tests perhaps?

Completely your choice of course, but you have a higher risk of miscarriage than of the baby being born with Down's, Edwards or Patau syndrome. It's hard though isn't it, because before the diagnostic tests, it's just numbers crunched up in a computer- not a definite yes or no.