Where to get Harmony Test?

[oldmumsomanyquestions]

I'm an older pregnant woman (43) - first pregnancy. Want to get the harmony test - if you've had one where would you recommend? I'm 10+4 so need to get moving.
Thanks

Thanks minipie assume you mean lower then 1 in 150

So test proves for sure yes or no but from what I've read 1% chance of miscarriage

I had low risk but even if high I wouldn't risk the harmony test as want a baby and if they have downs (my Neice does) df and I would carry on with pregnancy - so seems pointless me doing the test as wouldn't change the outcome

But can understand why people have the test

I went to the Birth Company and had a very good experience (I had the Panorama Test because I wanted it done at 9 weeks because I was travelling weeks 10-12).

Blondes, the harmony test is non invasive so there is no risk of miscarriage from the test. You simply have some blood taken and from that the baby's DNA is extracted from the blood and tested.

The traditional definitive tests (cvs or amino) involve passing a needle into the uterous with baby and accordingly do have a risk of miscarriage.

The harmony test is an alternative to a cvs or amino that gives a much more accurate result than the current nhs screening but without the risk of miscarriage.

The standard NHS test is a combination of mothers age, nuclel fold measure and hormone levels in your blood. This gives a % risk
The harmony test looks at the foetus' DNA in the mothers blood and also returns a % risk (but is much more accurate)
The harmony test will hopefully replace the need you inset a needle into the uterus to retrieve foetal DNA.

Sorry being really thick here - it's true baby brain does exist !!

So there is the NHS one where have blood and neck measurements and say if a possible high risk

Then harmony which is 400/500 which is an extra test via blood to give a more accurate reading?

But isn't harmful to baby

What's the paranama?

Yes the nhs look at the thickness of the nuchal fold (a pocket of fluid at the back of the neck, a large nuchal fold is often associated with genetic abnormalities) and various hormone levels within the blood. From this they will give you a high or low risk result. I believe that the cut off between high and low risk is 1 in 150. You could get a result of 1 in 5000 or 1 in 200 and both would be deemed low risk results by the nhs. If you have a high risk result you will be offered further screening if you want it, traditionally this has been the cvs or amino both of which carry a small risk of miscarriage. Although I believe the nhs will now offer the harmony or a version thereof to people who receive a high risk result as an alternative to the cvs/amnio.

The harmony is an additional private test that does not have a risk of miscarriage associated with it that provides a much clearer result as it looks directly at the baby's DNA. This returns results of either 1 in 10000 or 1 in 2 there is no middle ground.

I believe that the panorama is another version of the harmony test. They essentially do the same job but are offered by different companies. There may be some small differences between the two tests but they are doing pretty much the same thing overall and it is simply a question of personal preference. If you are considering doing one if the tests it may be worth looking for somewhere that offers both tests and asking what the differences are.

I had the harmony at 10 weeks and received a low risk result which allowed me to relax (a bit!) We also found out the baby's sex at that early stage. As a result of the harmony showing a low risk result I didn't have the nhs screening test although I had the 12 week scan.

It is worth remembering that the nhs screening and the harmony/panorama are not just looking for Down's syndrome but also Edwards Syndrome and Patau's syndrome neither of which are compatible with life.

Hope that helps!

Thank you sunshine makes sense 💐

Thanks for the recommendations, I think I will go to fmc, I'm 30 yo and 8+4 weeks, no history of downs but just super vigilant as it's my first baby.