cvs/amnio st thomas's london - quandry

[islawhite]

Hallo all
Just wondering if anyone has had either of the above procedures at St.T's.
Am currently keeping myself awake at night about whether or not to do one of these but in the first instance I am not sure who to discuss it with, having had a couple of conversations with the midwives there.
As far as the stats are concerned, I'm 39, this will be our first child, my nuchal fold gave me a 1:540 chance of Down's, and the scan was generally fine, i.e. no other indicators.
Any thoughts are welcome.

I was just like you i.e.39, first child, similar nuchal fold results. I went through the same agonising and decided to have an amnio (not at St T's) it was fine. A friend of a similar age explained that by having the amnio she could at least settle back and enjoy the pregnancy, she felt the "not knowing" would be worse.
I have to say that having had the amnio you then have to decide what you would do if the result indicated Downs, a really difficult decision.

Hi

I had my 2 year old at St Thomas' and the nuchal there came out 1:2000 so we didn't have anything else, he was fine. This time as I am a bit older we decided to have a cvs irrespective. I asked to be referred to Kings as I know they are the regional expert centre and the test was developed there so that gave me most confidence. I am sure St Thomas would be very good as well. I had it on Monday (even though Nuchal was actually better odds than last time even). Everything was fine and it is very reassuring to know that everything is definitely normal. The procedure is quite intense and a bit scary but doesn't hurt. It is a tough one I know - only you can decide whether or not to have one but I have to say, it wasn't too bad. Another reassuring thing to me was that the doctor at Kings said that the quoted mc rate of 1% is basically of the procedure causing the foetus to die at the time of the procedure and he had never seen it in 5 years of doing them there. If you leave the hospital with everything ok the risk of mc is then actually from infection, not the procedure itself, and that goes down to 0.2% statistically. Good luck with your decision - it is a hard one to make, just thought I'd let you know that having just been through it I don't regret it (though I possibly did straight afterwards as it seemed very scary at the time).

Thank you both, this really helps. From the conversation I had with the midwives, I felt a bit like I was being overly panicky, and ever so slightly guilty, (amazing how quickly that kicks in).

I went back for a chat with a consultant and with a midwife before deciding to go for the amnio and found it didn't help my decision making process at all. To be honest they would not advise either way, I suspect they fear litigation if it all goes wrong. I felt they were just "sitting on the fence". I'm sure St T's is fine for these procedures.

Last time I worried throughout my pregnancy and so this time I had the CVS at the FMC (again, even though odds were better from NF).

I was very worried but tbh it was a very straightforward procedure and I feel so much better than my last pregnancy (I worried every day for 6 months).

I was all geared up for spending 2 days in bed post the CVS and so was a tad disappointed when the prof said just get on with looking after your husband, no need to rest.

Good luck in your choice.

Forgot to say, last time the MW made me feel ridiculous for even asking about a CVS and I regretted not having the reassurance after I was talked out of it.

This time I took the view it was my pregnancy, my body and 6 months of stress wasn't exactly good for my baby either so I would do what I wanted!

Didn't even tell the MW I was having the CVS done as I knew what her reaction would be.

Me too, I just arranged it myself with the GP. When I went for the booking in appt with the NHS midwife and said I was having one (shouldn't have bothered) she started trying to persuade me to have an amnio instead with some stupid reason about injecting into fluid being better than injecting into tissue - complete nonsense. I just said thanks for your opinion I'm having it. To be honest, one thing that really p*ed me off last time was people constanly questioning my choices and judgements and second time around I am taking no s**. It is much easier second time though - first time you don't have the confidence to stick to your guns and believe in your decisions. I know the medical profession have the training etc but these days educated, professional women, in my opinion, are quite capable of looking at the research, considering other people's opinions and making their own minds up. Do what you feel is best for you, your baby and your pregnancy. If it is any help I felt that the people at Kings were very pro CVS and were pretty much the only people who didn't question our choice.

Hallo everyone
Sorry haven't logged on in a while, but thanks so much for the input - will definitely sort this out this week, and it's helpful to know that others have been in this position also.
Thanks for the support.

Have you thought about what you would do if the test showed a chromosomal abnormality? Because if you would continue your pg no matter what, then you may prefer not to take any risks with the pg at all?

I was older than you when I had DS and we sailed through the 12 week nuchal scan with some re-assuring statistic (I can't remember what - maybe about the same as yours) and then at the 20 week scan, 'soft markers' were detected for a number of chromosomal issues, some incompatible with life. I wouldn't have terminated a baby with Down's Syndrome, but would for some more extreme trisomies, i think. Because of the soft markers, we went for amnio....and I remember becoming intensley distressed whilst waiting for the results because I felt such a strong bond with my moving, kicking baby and felt a sense of disloyalty in even contemplating a test that would perhaps suggest termination. I vowed then that if I should have another child I would have cvs at an earlier stage...rather than wait until after 20 weeks for amnio.

Yes my partner and I already had that discussion. Sadly after waiting for the initial scan and then dithering after the first conversations with the midwife, another week had passed, leaving it too late to do cvs rather than wait for the amnio.

ooops - sorry Islawhite! I thought you were still thinking about cvs.

no worries, i was until i realised it was too late! hormonal brain in overdrive i think!