Harmony test - who's had one?

[mrsmummy1111]

We got the very sad news today at our 12w scan that baby's nuchal translucency was a bit high (2.9mm when the highest it should be for a gestation of 12+6 is 2.4mm). Teamed with my bloods it gave us a reading of 1 in 59 chance of one of the trisomy's. Luckily I am giving birth at kings and they offer the harmony test on the NHS, so I have sent my bloods off today and am now in the 2ww for a phone call telling me the results.

Has anyone had results like this and opted for the harmony test and can you share your experiences of either?

Thanks

I have had two harmony tests. The first was ‘unplanned’ if you like and due to high risk combined like yours. Mine was back in a week and got to know the gender super early (which I used as my reward for the stress). Try not to worry. All sorts of things can make the combined results high and your measurement could be slightly high for lots of reasons. Mine was solely down to my age the midwife thought (was 35). This time (aged 37) I paid to have my harmony test at 10 weeks to avoid the stress of last time. It took 3 weeks to get the results...! They were sat in the consultants junk mail - all low risk both times and I refused the combined at my 12 week scan this time as I knew I was low risk already. You’ll get a 1/10,000 result of low risk which I am sure you will be. The wait is really horrible - try to keep busy it’ll be over soon.

Good to get nhs funding though I had to pay even when nhs discovered the high risk!

No experience but I've just booked my harmony test for 2 weeks time. I will be 11 weeks. I have had so many MC's that I just want to know asap if there's a problem. Plus it will be fine to know early if it's a girl or a boy this time. I hope all goes well with your results x

Sorry to hear this but to give you hope I had this in December with a 1 in 58 chance after many rounds of IVF. I was devastated and we opted for the harmony test. Thankfully it came back clear and I am now sitting with my beautiful 3 month old healthy daughter. Stay strong, with any luck it will be ok. Wishing you the best of luck x

P.s. our neck measurement had showed as thicker on the NHS scans than yours (to give you hope). We initially opted to go for a private scan the next day at the London Fertility Centre whose scan equipment was much clearer and more modern than the NHS one and that really helped put our mind at rest too and gave a much smaller neck measurement and a 1 in 5000 chance of trisomy (down from 1 in 58 on the NHS). We still chose to do the Harmony test anyway just for absolute peace of mind and all came back clear. With any luck yours will too. x

Thank you so much everyone for your reassuring messages! I know the odds are very much in our favour but it's unknown and scary regardless.

@rosyposy653 - was it Dr Nikolaides that you saw by any chance? I've been recommended him by a friend who had similar results and also went for a private nuchal scan which came back with much lower results, and actually way out of the "danger zone" unlike her NHS results. So that's two people with similar experiences and very reassuring. We have already sent off for the harmony test so all I can hope is that the results come back quickly so I can go back to enjoying my pregnancy!

Thanks again everyone, very kind of you to share your experiences you have provided no end of relief x

@mrsmummy1111 it wasn't as he wasn't available but I have heard good things about him too. The only small issue we had with the harmony is that my initial harmony blood test result came back inconclusive as it didn't have enough of the baby's DNA in so I had to re-do it which meant a longer wait but apparently that is quite rare and it didn't mean anything at all negative...just that they couldn't test properly. Hopefully that won't happen to you though. I have everything crossed that your mind gets put at rest and it's all fine. x

Just anyone having the harmony, still have your NHS test as they test the Papp-A as well, you can disregard the results of the Tri screening they do as obviously the harmony/panorama/nipt or Iona will supersede their guesstimation, but still have the screening for the Papp-A 👍

@Quail15 I should have tagged you above

6 years ago I had to pay for the harmony test as it wasn't available on the nhs
I was 41
I got 1/100000 chance
I had a very healthy baby

The nhs gave me a 1/58 😱

I don't have any experience of this but wanted to say that I read in my "What to Expect When You're Expecting" book that it's extremely common to have a worrying result for NT or from a blood test and it often comes back completely fine. I will try and find the page and upload a photo for you :)

@Tangledtresses I've been asking around since we got the results and I've heard this SO many times! Also everyone keeps saying that the nuchal reading is of course subject to human error, and even the results today differed somewhat as she said "the highest result was 2.9mm" - meaning there were others that she took that were lower.

I chose to have the combined test so of course I'm pleased to be given the opportunity to be prepared, but the wait for the results is going to be killer. The control freak in me just wants to know so we can prepare, even though ultimately it won't affect our decision. We have a son already so it's not just us we have to think about anymore!

Thank you @ShalomToYouJackie that would be wonderful if you could!

I'm not sure it's human error so much as trying to get an accurate reading is difficult

My first child 16 now! Had a highish Scan result result, but tte scanners back then where sketchy! At best...! he was fine!! Although he's a teenager now so I do wonder 😱

You'll be fine x

I hope you can se3 this clearly but it says NT tests have a high rate of false positives, 90% of mums who get a positive screen will end up having perfectly normal and healthy baby.

It also says "an abnormal result on the combined screening test doesn't mean that your baby has a chromosonal problem, just that they have a increased risk of having one. In fact, most women who have abnormal results on their screening test go on to have a perfectly normal baby". The next page also says mistakes happen even with the best labs and most skilled professionals with the most high tech equipment and that false positives are common.

I hope that reassures you a bit xx

Yes you're right @Tangledtresses - you articulated it far better than me

It does @ShalomToYouJackie and thank you again. DH & I sitting here reading that and seeing it in black and white is very reassuring

You're welcome, I'm really glad it helped :)

@ChampooPapi I had the harmony test and they automatically checked for Papp-a and it was part of my results.

It might depend on where you have it done, but at FMC they test it.

Defo worth confirming though with those who test you!

Just to add, nhs advised me that as the NHS trisomy screening would be after the harmony, they would take the latest results forward - ie if NHS tests came back high risk, they would have to disregard harmony. As NHS tests have an 85% accuracy, there was a chance that I would have come back high risk when harmony showed I was low risk.

For me I decided to not take the nhs tests - there was nothing it would tell me that the harmony hadn't, and the risk of an inaccurate nhs test seemed an unnecessary stress

I also had two babies at King's like you and both times my risk factor from the combined tests was >1:500 so I was offered Harmony for free.

They said a week but both times I had results in 4 days both by phone and email. Both with result of

How do you book a harmony test privately without scan, just bloods? I didnt know you could do this. And how much roughly
Thanks

@Screwcorona I paid £375 at Kensington Wing at Chelsea & Westminster. Just bloods, no scan.

Our Trust only refer for a high NT at 3.5mm, so yours would be considered within the normal range here.

I only had a high NT reading (which we think was a mistake as a consultant follow up scan go a very different measurement). My bloods were normal. I declined the CVS and paid £290 for the Harmony test. It was private but my hospital took the blood, processed it and sent me the results. They came back within 5 working days which I wonder might be to do with the hospital processing it, so worth asking if your hospital offers that.

All came back low risk and we found out the sex too.

Sorry, just reread that you’ve already sent yours off.

Btw my results were 1 in 11! And even that was a 90% chance baby didn’t have an chromosomal problems, so the odds are in your favour. It is scary though. Hope you get clear results.