Low Papp-a levels

[NewMrsX]

Hi, has anyone else had this?

I've been told it's the reason for my high downs risk and I'm currently awaiting results of a cvs but now it seems it can cause other problems too.

I've been told if my downs result is clear I will have to have extra scans at 28 and 34 weeks due to the possibility of poor growth. Stupidly I googled it and there are suggestions of it also being linked to pre-eclampsia and stillbirths.

Has anyone had low levels then gone on to have a healthy pregnancy?

I have low levels (0.328Mom) but still a low Downs risk though higher for Edwards however after googling low PappA was completely freaked out.

I am taking low dose aspirin and am arguing for 4 growth scans as the GAP/GROW study research suggests this is far more effective at picking up slow growth than 2.

Apparently though the statistics suggest 90% of pregnancies with low Papp A have no issues at all and the national antenatal screening committee rejected it as a predictor of any issues other than Down syndrome. However RCOG says it should be treated as a major risk factor for slow growth. The raise in stillbirth risk is almost certainly because of the slow growth, they reduced the stillbirth rate in the Midlands by implementing better monitoring including 2-3 weekly scans from 26 weeks for high risk women and their protocol is being adopted nationally but sadly not where I am (South London)

Anyway so far I am 18 weeks and all going well, I have an appointment with a consultant to argue the case for more growth scans (not sure what I will do if they don't agree). It might be worth asking about aspirin as apparently it is most effective if you start before 16 weeks when the placenta is still forming.

Thank you for replying! There's a lot of info there that I wouldn't have been able to get my head around by researching it myself the way I'm feeling at the moment.

Thank you for the info regarding extra scans and the aspirin, as soon as I get my results from the cvs I will start pushing for those things. I feel like I'm being drip fed info by the hospital and not very well informed at the moment. They don't seem that bothered by the low levels and nothing was really discussed with me, I was just told I'd have 2 extra scans to check growth. I think this is definitely one of those times where not much will happen unless I push for it myself. It doesn't help that my dh thinks I'm making more of a fuss than necessary and that if they aren't bothered then neither should we be.

Good luck with your consultant appointment, I hope you get the extra scans and all turns out well for you