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'm 42 and Pregnant with DC3. Its very early days but I am considering my options.

I think I will pay for the NIPT test at 10 weeks but I am unclear about whether to have the NHS tests too. Someone earlier said we should have this as it tests for papp A but when I was pregnant last year (ended in MC) my midwife said I shouldn't bother having them. I don't really understand what papp A is and why the NIPT doesn't test for it.

If you don't have the NHS tests does this mean you don't have a 12 week scan? What are the benefits of having the NHS test after the NIPT?

Didn't have harmony, but had a thicker NT measurement. Had to have cvs test.

They never found anything.
My boy is perfect and thriving at 9 months old!

I had the NIPT for both pregnancies. DS1 NHS came back with 1:19 so paid privately for the test (just bloods) and results came back as low risk. Currently 40 weeks with DC2 and chose to have the test at 10 weeks and came back as low risk too.

There's so many factors which can influence the NHS result, I had bad morning sickness with my first which can apparently affect your bloods so try not to stress too much!

@luckylakes Admittedly I don't fully understand whether the harmony tests your Papp-A or not either, but having already had the NHS combined screening I already have my Papp-A readings.

If you decline the combined screening you still have the 12w scan though. Everyone is offered the 12w scan then while you are there you get given the option to have a combined screening where they take your bloods and combine that with the NT, Papp-A etc and from that reach a conclusion on likelihood of the 3 trisomy's. From there you can decide what further options you'd like to explore, if any. I am giving birth at kings who currently offer harmony test for free but not all hospitals do.

Truthfully, if I was giving birth at a different hospital next time - I would have the harmony test privately as early as possible and would the decline the combined screening. The main reason for getting the combined screening for me was to test for the trisomy's, and if I had the harmony test and already knew the answer then I just wouldn't want to put myself through anymore undue stress and anxiety in case the combined test came back high risk. The harmony test overrides the combined test regardless so for me, it wouldn't be worth it.

I had a terrible nights sleep, up all hours just thinking. My mind is in complete overdrive.

I know it's utterly irrational but my brain just keeps thinking that everyone I speak to has had positive results from the harmony test and there must be people out there who have had bad news and their results have come back as high risk. In my fragile state I just imagine that's going to be us. That we are going to be the ones to receive the news that we are in fact, high risk for downs.

The sonographer said she found no other indicators for downs. No heart issues, no bowel issues, nasal bone seemed to be fine (as far as she indicated anyway). Am I clutching at straws hoping that no other markers must be a good sign?

The NHS test is actually only 79 percent accurate and my hospital said they disregard their test whatever order you have the nipt in. As the NHS test is not testing the babies DNA , I'm surprised someone has said their hospital takes whichever you had last?? That makes no sense as the nipt tests DNA so is so much more accurate, the NHS were even planning on replacing their screening with an nipt.

@luckylakes definitely have the 12 week scan! It's just the tests for those three screenings that your nipt will supersede. I'd still have the NHS screening as some nipt don't test papa-a or sickle cell so you might as well have it as well, just completely disregard the results of the three abnormalities when they are posted and go with your nipt results.

@ChampooPapi It depends on each hospitals policy so anyone getting them done should check. I understand it's partly because some private places are less reputable - also the NHS is known to have policies to be reliant on private results for all sorts of things, not just pregnancy things, regardless of whether it makes sense or not.

I don't appreciate my experience being disregarded because it 'doesn't make sense' - it's the hospitals policy and I can't rewrite it for them, so I made a choice that was right for me and I wasn't screened for the trisomys.

I still had regular bloods at my 12 week scan (although not Papp a & trisomys as already had it done).

Also, you'd know if you had sickle cell - they may also scan for the trait (to see if you're a carrier but doesn't affect your pregnancy) but you've no idea if the baby has the disease or trait until they're born and has tests as they don't test the father for it.

Anyone who is getting the tests should be informed of their hospitals policies/what they test for etc as clearly each is different. For me, there was no point in having tests after my harmony which may result in a false positive and the associated stress. Some hospitals may disregard them if you've already had the harmony, some may not.

To clarify, it was the order of the tests which was the issue. They said they would be obligated to follow up on the latest results which would be the NHS tests even if they conflicted with the Harmony. Which, actually, I understand. This did not mean I shouldn't have blood tests for the other standard things they look for - you should, and I did.

The father is tested if you are found to have sickle cell

Further tests if the mother is a carrier
Tests to see if the father is a carrier
If the screening test finds that you're a carrier of a haemoglobin disease, your baby's father will also be offered a blood test

Hi everyone

Wanted to update for anyone falling upon this thread one day, and also for everyone who offered some support and words of encouragement.

We received our results back today (10 calendar days from test) and thankfully it has come back very low risk. As far as kings are concerned we can continue with a low risk pregnancy, and other than an extra cardiac scan at 20w (which is standard for anyone who gets a high NT reading), they have no further concerns.

To say it's a relief would be a gross understatement, but I hope my story brings some comfort to anyone reading this who may be going through the same thing.