Declining antenatal screening tests

[MyBreadIsEggy]

Has anyone else declined antenatal screenings and been treated like a [word removed by MNHQ for being disablist] because of it?!
I declined any screening with DD, and have done so with the pregnancy too. The midwife I spoke to just kept saying "are you sure?", "do you really understand what you're saying no to?", "have you even read the booklet?" etc.
Yes I've read the booklet. Yes I know what I'm saying no to!
We have done our research, and according to everything on the NHS website, we pose a low risk of our baby having a chromosomal disorder (I think it's 1 in 1500 for Down's Syndrome and even less for Edward's Syndrome or Patau Syndrome).
We don't feel the need to know if there were to be anything wrong with our baby. And surely that is a desicion that should be respected by our MW?
I am quite young, and the MW's I saw (except the one that delivered DD) were very patronising throughout the whole process, and from speaking to other young mums that go to the same groups as me, their experiences were quite similar.
I don't want to come across as an arsehole to the MW, but I want her to stop trying to talk me into something I don't want to do!

To be clear, I'm not declining anomaly scans or screening for infections diseases....I'm declining screening for chromosomal abnormalities. Ie Down's, Edward's and Patau's Syndrome.
I had a MW appointment today, and she informed me that there is a new screening programme in England where you can choose to be screened for certain chromosomal abnormalities and not others. This wasn't available during my last pregnancy - it was all or nothing then. DH and I are discussing possibly screening for only Edwards and Patau syndrome now that it's an option to only screen for those two.
We definitely do not wish to screen for Down's.

When asked if I wanted and I said yes to 12 week blood test my mw seemed concerned and asked how I would cope if results came back high risk even though I wouldn't terminate I would like to be prepared for the worse.

Of course, it’s your choice but I think there are a lot of good reasons to have the test.

The NHS doesn’t make this very clear but having gone through a very difficult pregnancy which ended in a termination for medical reasons, I now know more about this than I ever wanted to.

The nuchal measurement is an indicator for a lot of chromosomal abnormalities, genetic issues and heart defects – not just T21, T18, T13.

Even if you are young and have no family history of any problems, these things can still happen to you – they did to me.

You may think that you would not terminate under any circumstances but, if you found out that your baby would not survive till birth or die shortly afterwards (T18 and T13), you might find that you feel differently.

Even if you don’t feel differently, you may still want to know so that you are prepared.

Finally, your baby may have an issue which can be treated if spotted during the pregnancy. One of my friends had a baby with a heart defect – as is quite common, the first indicator of this was a high nuchal reading. No-one in her family or her DH’s family had any history of heart defects. She then was referred for a specialist cardiac scan which provided a diagnosis. She was induced at a specialist hospital and her baby had a successful operation at a few days old and is now completely healthy. If she had not had the nuchal test, it’s possible that the problem would have been picked up at the 20 week scan instead but it’s also possible that it wouldn’t have been and her baby would almost certainly have died if born at a non-specialist hospital. Why risk that because you don’t think it could happen to you?

I declined screening as well. MW wasn't funny or anything but definitely seemed a bit taken aback. As others have said, they are probably just concerned with making sure you fully understand what you're declining. We asked lots of questions and were told by the MW that no test could give a definitive Y/N answer and that the most accuracy they could offer in terms of a 'worst case scenario' would be something like a 50:50 chance of things like Edwards or Patau. I would have chosen to continue with the pregnancy regardless, but just felt that the risks for me outweighed the benefits i.e. we might have been given a 50:50 chance of Patau syndrome, spent the rest of the pregnancy worried sick and then had a healthy baby. In the end, there was too much uncertainty for us and we put our faith in the scans instead. It's such a personal choice and it's not always an easy decision.

"We were told by the MW that no test could give a definitive Y/N answer and that the most accuracy they could offer in terms of a 'worst case scenario' would be something like a 50:50 chance of things like Edwards or Patau."

Your MW shouldn't really have said this. The combined screening test only gives you a probability, yes, but, if you had had a 50:50 chance of T13 or T18, you would be able to have CVS or amnio which would give you basically a definitive yes or no. If you had not wanted invasive testing, you could have gone for the Harmony test which would also have given you very close to a definitive answer.

We had a similar outlook. The 20 week scan enables you to identify and prepare for a number of structural abnormalities, and means you can plan for delivery / intervene etc as discussed. The blood tests will give you a probability. I looked into Pataus /Edwards recently, having declined blood tests I suddenly wondered if I had missed the point I could prepare my children for what might be to come. From what I read on the NHS website, the 20 week scan looks for the structural abnormalities that go along with these, and if typical features are identified they will discuss with you if you want further testing. I am not a midwife /obstetrician though, so am prepared to be corrected of this.

Sorry, I should have clarified that. Yes, she did say we could have had amnio after the screening but I didnt want to go down that route due to risk of mc and also because still not an absolutely definitive answer. Everyone has their own feelings about it and I suspect that already having children whose needs you have to consider would make a difference (this is our first one) but I don't think I could abort a baby that might be healthy. However slim the probability was, I think I would hold out hope to be in that tiny percentage. I haven't heard of the harmony test though - that was never mentioned to us even during those conversations with the MW.