Nuchal test

[gl2007]

Hi,

My wife and I are expecting our first child and we're ecstatic about it. I'm 37 and she is 35.

She recently had a nuchal fold test and a blood test and the results have come back with a 1:105 chance of the baby having down's syndrome.

We spoke to the foetal medical unit and they said that the risk factor for her age was 1:267, the blood test was 1:1689 and the nuchal translucency was 1:16 giving the overall 1:105.

The said the reason for the 1:16 was the nuchal measurement was 3.1mm and shouldve been about 2.2mm for the age of the baby, 12weeks at the time.

Theyve said we can have an amnio which carries a risk of miscarriage........we are really not sure what to do.

is 1:105 seems pretty high to me. They tried to scan for "soft markers" today but the baby is too small so we have to go back in 2 weeks. They said the risk will be halved to 1:210 if they find none.

Does 1:105/1:210 seem high to you?

Hi gl

I haven't read all of the replies, but I wanted to share our experience too with you. I was 41 when pregnant with ds2 and was able to have a nuchal test, but also read a lot about Down' syndrome first. We were given a risk factor of 1:50, but didn't want to risk any invasive procedures.

I had my eyes completely opened by the very positive accounts I read. I read of very happy and loving families, of people with Down's going on to take degrees, to marry, to lead very different lives to when they were automatically institutionalised. Students with Down's can attend mainstream schools and, it seems, do not automatically suffer from heart defects or other health complications as the press might suggest. (In fact, they are screened for heart defects whereas babies without Down's are not, so the figures are skewed.) I began my pregnancy full of trepidation, but emerged from my reading (particularly a website called Mothers35plus, started in the UK for older mothers) feeling very, very much more confident and happy that our precious baby would be just that, even if he had an extra chromosone.

Our risk of 1:50 was high, but still, as someone has pointed out gave us a 98% chance of life with a baby without Down's. However, I was very very glad that I read so much - including two moving accounts of fathers who had begged their wives to abort, only to fall in love with their daughters at first meeting. Life with any baby is going to be full of frustrations and joys. They will just be different frustrations and joys with a child with Down's.

Best of luck with whatever you decide, and very best wishes for a healthy and happy pregnancy.

Popi70

that is still the choice on the NHS in my area, they don't do nuchal scans. If you are over 35 you are automatically offered an amnio if you want one - we chose to go private for the nuchal & hopefully avoid the amnio, which we have both times luckily

The NHS postcode lottery gets me so annoyed.

betsyboop,

I had to go privately for my nuchal scan too - though some of the money goes to my local hospital and next year will probably be free here.

However, I also know very well how a postcode determines your NHS care. Had I lived in the next biggest city from the one I am now, I would have been given steroids straightaway and my premature babies would have had better chances to survive.

(gl2007: sorry for hijacking your thread!)

Hi all, just wanted to update this thread to let you know that we had a beautiful 7lbs 1oz daughter on Christmas Eve, what a present!

Everything is fine, we had no amnio so as you can imagine its a huge weight off our minds!

Thanks to everyone for the replies/help and advice its very much appreciated!

Many congratulations to both of you and how lovely of you to post an update. So glad things were fine. Enjoy your baby girl

gl2007 you just made me cry (in a good way)
Congratulations - go and enjoy your wee girl!

Congratualtions

i am a mum to 5 sons ranging from 20 down to 1 and im 16weeks pregnant with my 6th child.i recently had a few days of bleeding and my doctor recommended that i have an emergency scan.i had my 14week scan just 2 weeks ago and everything was fine but on my emergency scan today,i was told that my baby has nuchal transluency!i have been booked in for a nuchal scan for a 10 days time.it is going to be the longest 10 days of my life i have looked it up on the net and now im even more confused as to what my childs outcome is.can any one give me any positive but honest advice please?thanks for reading my post guys x

Llantwitgirl, I don't have any experience to offer you advice, but i think you might get more responses if you start a new thread in the 'antenatal choices' topic.

Hope someone comes along who can help you.