Harmony Test - When and where's best?

[jollyjellybean]

HI
Im 9 weeks and have read about the harmony test and wondered when is the best time to do this and if anyone could recommend the best place to go for this
I was thinking of going to London for this as there seems to be alot of places that do the Harmony test in London

Is it advisable to wait for the 12 NHS nuchal scan first or best to go for the harmony test before the 12 week scan?

A bit confused about all this so any clarification on this would be greatly appreciated

Hi Jolly, I had my harmony done at the fmc in london - the founder is a leading specialist. I think you need to have the test done within the 10-11th week with the results returning in the 12/13th week. Give them a call, they were really helpful good luck

Just out of interest about how much does the Harmony Test cost in London. I'm in Northern Ireland and having seen your thread I just googled whether you could have it done in Belfast. The two places I found charge £950 for it which seems like an awful lot of money.

I've been thinking about having this too and just spoke to a friend who also had it at the FMC in London. She said it was£400 plus you have to have a scan too (£150).

I can recommend fmc. I had mine there abd they were brilliant.

They are currently doing a package if you have you bloods taken in your tenth week, they give you a quick scan and check the measurements are right and pregnancy is viable first, then two weeks later you go back for the results and a full nuchal scan. Package price is 400.

Alternatively Harmony is 400 and is you want nuchal done as well it'll be an extra 180. Think Harmony bloods can be taken for quite a long period. 10-15weeksbor similar.

thanks for all your replies - it sounds like FMC is a good place to go - I think I may only be able to go once as Im travelling quite far - do you think I can do the harmony in one visit including the bloods and full nuchal scan or will this need to be done in two trips?

insomnia I'm in NI, too, and it seems if you can swing it it's almost worth gong to the FMC as even with flights and maybe 1 night of accommodation it'll be cheaper than having it done in Belfast.

Jolly It is all usually done in one day.

I know several ladies who have gone to the FMC and had their nuchal scan and Harmony test there and they are very knowledgeable and reassuring and good at follow up should your results indicate that there might be a problem.

Another fan of FMC here. I had the harmony and nuchal tests there in August and they were great. You have to go twice, first during your 10th week, when they scan you and check the baby is the right size range to do the test. Then you have bloods taken and get weighed. You go back a couple of weeks later, so in your 12th week, for the results of the harmony test and your nuchal scan. Although there's a window of several weeks for the nuchal test, unless it's changed in the last few months harmony must be done when you're 10 weeks pg and the baby within a certain set size range.

A "low" risk harmony test result will give you a risk factor of 1:10,000 for the three chromosomal abnormalities it tests for. If they have any concerns about your harmony results they'll call you back sooner for nuchal.

Hope this helps and best wishes for your pregnancy!

Hi all
I had the harmony test done at FMC when I was 14+1 as I had a 1:59 result from my NHS nuchal scan and bloods. I didn't want the Amnio offered as I have already miscarried 3 times. They were brilliant. Scanned me and took bloods and I got a 1:3400 risk from the scan and then a negative / 1:10,000 from the harmony which came back in 10 days. Cost a total of £580 (£400 harmony and £180 scan) - all done same day. Totally recommend them. Professor Nicolades came in at the end of the consultation / scan and reviewed it all and is an amazing man, oozes knowledge and makes you feel totally confident that he knows what's what! X

I also recommend the FMC. Pretty much one of the best, if not the best place in the world to go to get it done as they are pioneers in fetal medicine research, and probably the cheapest too even without the special deals they often have. And they are lovely

If you know you are going to get Harmony done (i.e. you need to know for sure at 12 weeks) get it done before your NT screening. Reason I say this is if you get a worrying result at your NT screening, you are left with the unenviable choice of a) waiting two weeks worrying yourself stupid or b) invasive testing and the risks that carries in order to find out within a few days.

Whereas if you already have the Harmony result, neither of those options will happen.

I went at 10 weeks for my Harmony blood test (had viability scan first) and back to the FMC for the nuchal ultrasound at 12 weeks. I am so so so so glad I had the Harmony beforehand as my NT screening came back at 1 in 5. I was reassured before the NT screening began that Harmony had come back low risk and any result I had from the FMC NT screening was to be ignored in favour of the Harmony. I think I would have passed out from shock had I not already had the good result.

The research doctor was very reassuring about how Harmony could be trusted over the scary NT result - she was very very certain my baby does not have Down Syndrome. Yes, Harmony is a screening test, not a diagnostic, but being an obsessive and having looked at the research statistics myself in detail I can understand their total confidence in the results. I'm 28 weeks now and have never had anything slightly worrying on ultrasound (anatomy and cardiac scans done at FMC too) to suggest there is a problem - at least half, if not more of babies with Down Syndrome show something on ultrasound.

I think FMC like to do the NT screening anyway for their own research purposes to compare against the Harmony result, but it's not compulsory. There are still benefits to NT screening that Harmony does not give so it is still worth doing one wherever you fancy doing it. An increased nuchal fold can be an indicator of other non-chromosomal issues which can be checked up on, and a low PAPP-A or a high bHCG from the blood screening can be indicative of future placenta issues and would warrant a third trimester growth scan.

Good luck!

You'll need to speak to FMC to get the exact current costs. The offer at the lower cost was only until end of August and you had to go twice, as they were collecting data for the research. If you're travelling long distance it might not be worth it, so worth investigating carefully.

I ended up having it done in the NW as the cost of travel, twice, made it not worth while. Where I had it done, the sonographer had been trained at FMC. There's no specialist skill involved with taking bloods and shipping them to the US, which is the other part.

HTH

I just had Harmony done at FMC last Tue (31st). They seemed really professional an knowledgable, and they have a lot better equipment than the NHS hospital where I went for early emergency scans due to spotting after BFP. Cost was £400 for Harmony + scan + nuchal scan in two wks. Also paid extra £10 to find out sex with Harmony results.

thanks so much for all your replies - that's so helpful
I will definintely go to FMC
Do you get a choice of who will scan you or is that decision made by them?

Many thanks for all your detailed responses

Just checking it is The Fetal Medicine Centre at 137 Harley Street that you're all taking about? Just wanted to be sure :)

yes - that's the one.

I didn't get a choice - but then I didn't ask.....

great thanks for clarifying that

I'm sure they're all great so I'll just leave it up to them

I have a 10 week NHS follow up scan which has been booked a long time scheduled for next week - is it advisable not to have two scans in one week?
In which case would it be an option to go to FMC in week 11 or would this be too late?

Many thanks again for all your help

Apart from Harmony test, you can also consider NIFTY test, which also available in London.
They are cheaper (295) and carry the same function as Harmony test.

Check the information at www.thisismy.co.uk and see you think it can also be one of your choices.