A/N testing for Down's Syndrome and Thyroid level

[suedonim]

I'm looking for info on someone's behalf about a/n testing, Down's Syndrome and thyroid levels. The pg woman concerned is 32 and expecting her second baby in April. She had a text book pg last time, apart from palpitations.

This time she has worse palpitations which she's been told are due to high levels of thyroid. She's also had an AFP test which has given her a 1 in 140-ish chance of the baby having Down's Syndrome. She seems to think there's a link between high thyroid levels in the mother and Down's Syndrome. I can't see that high thyroid would cause Down's but is it possible Down's causes high thyroid levels in the mother? Or can high thyroid cause the AFP test to give inaccurate results?

She doesn't want an amnio but is feeling rather confused and miserable atm so more info would be good. TIA.

Crikey, some of the views expressed at the end of your first link.... Re the second link, a good friend's dd is a paediatrician at St George's and I've been reading the links with fascination. As far as tests are concerned, they exist and the genie can't be put back in the bottle. But imo, it's the absolute right of parents to make decisions without outside interference. None of us can say what's right for anyone else because none of us has parallel lives.

Maybe I live in cloud-cuckoo-land but I don't see that economics has any part to play in DS or any other disability. The number of children who have DS is hardly going to bankrupt a nation, ffs. A friend of ours was hit by a car a couple of years ago. I doubt he'll ever eat solid food again, let alone speak, walk or earn a living but that doesn't mean he's worth less than before his accident.

On the number of children with DS; we spent our summer holiday in upstate New York this year where we went to a county show in a remote area and there were a number of people with DS there. It's a poor area which has little access to health services and indeed many people live outside the state altogether so it's probably like the UK 40 years ago.

Dd's state education programme sounds excellent. My nightmare job would be to be a teacher (was horrified when my careers advisor at school suggested I teach - I don't even like children!!) but being involved in something such as you describe has a different flavour altogether. Shame I'm too old now.

sue - I was a high school teacher by profession but have decided after the babes have grown some to do a masters in transdiscplinary studies focusing on early childhood special ed - hoping to be at least a special ed teacher aide.

Never too old - most of the aides at dd1's special ed unit are 'older' women - some with grown children - some with teenagers etc. THey probably aren't that much older than I am but cause I have young children I forget how old I really am sometimes.

An amazing book to read is

here

A friend who is doing her phD in the area of whether women give true 'informed' consent in the area of antenatal testing - awkward way of phrasing it but that is the crux of it... she recommended this book to me. Scary what my friend has learnt in interviewing women for her thesis and their experiences with some medical professionals.