Short Nasal Bone at 22wk scan

[excitedmum44]

Hi There,
i wondered if anyone had any advice as I am going out of my mind with worry. we had our 22wk scan last week and it showed that our little boy has a short nasal bone, it should be 4.8mm minimum but is at 3.8mm. Doesn't sound like a big issue but is used as a soft marker for Downs Syndrome. My nuchal fold and blood tests at 3mths were very good giving him a risk of 1/14,000 but this has now been lowered, because of the short nasal bone, to 1/278. Im utterly freaking out as I didnt even know this was a measurement that was used and am genuinely distraught. Does anyone have any positive stories they could share as need the lift to be strong for my little baby. thankyou x

We found out at 22 weeks that we had a 1/100 chance of our baby having DS. We opted to have an amnio as I couldn't handle another 20 weeks of not knowing. Luckily our results were negative and our DD was born with no problems (she is now 3). Has an amnio been suggested to you? Another option is to pay for the Harmony test. We paid for this privately during my current pregnancy and although isn't 100% accurate it is better than the NHS screening. There is no risk to the baby as it is simply a blood test.

Sorry you're going through this. I remember how I felt so clearly and it was such a stressful and anxious time. Since a problem was discovered at our 20 week scan last week I'm back to thinking the worst and worrying just like last time! I hope things work out well for you.

Is this routinely checked at the scan? I have no idea what the nasal bone measurement was at my scan, or if indeed if there was one present and checked. I declined to know my risk ratio as I found the whole thing too stressful! I know it's a better risk than 1:150 but don't know the exact number. My nuchal fold was 2.7, which is on the high side, but Im now 27 weeks and I don't think it warrants further worry at this stage.

@keepsmiling83 - thanks for your message, yep we did the Harmony blood test now just waiting 10 days for the results. i just had never heard of the nasal bone being a metric for Down syndrome at all so came as a real shock! i hope you are okay and not stressing about your 20wk scan, its such a scary time that i really didnt anticipate. sometimes you wish you didnt know these things so you can just enjoy your pregnancy.

@serafinaaa i imagine they didnt measure it if you opted out of the risk ratio, i dont know. i know thet for DS at 3mth scan they measure bloods (HCG and Papa A) and the Nuchal fold, then it seems at 20 weeks they measure femur length, nasal bone and any calcium build up in the bones, rain or heart. thats form what i understand. Im sure you have nothing to worry about. i feel now that there are so many tests that it almost feels like you know too much. actually when our mothers were having babies these tests didnt exist!