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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Original poster

Down syndrome blood test result

30 replies

Excitemum · 04/02/2021 23:32

Hello everyone. I am new to mumsnet and I have a very common question that I am sure everyone asks.
I am 35years old and I am 12w 4d pregnant. I went for my dating scan on 3rd February. The scan was normal apart from baby moving frequently. The NT is 2.7, but they found in my blood test that my pregnancy is 1: 118 chance of developing down syndrome which is less than 1%. They advised us to go for cvs or amniocentesis or the harmony test. Are there anyone here who had the same circumstances like mine and what was your decision. I am very confused and nervous about the tests. Please advise.Smile

OP posts:
Chelyanne · 05/02/2021 00:07

I've not been advised to have testing with any to date but 36 now and 11+5wk atm so could be possible this time.
If I had to go for more tests I would opt for the harmony test as it's non-invasive and claims 99% accuracy.

Cissyandflora · 05/02/2021 00:10

The harmony is non invasive. My daughter just had it recently for the peace of mind after a worrying scan.

namechange7567785544 · 05/02/2021 00:13

My bloods came back with less than 1% chance of developing down syndrome. I had amniocentesis as i was advised because of a few different reasons and all the results came back with very low chance of all the things they test for with amnio! My baby is healthy and happy!
Also the amnio was literally fine, didnt hurt and i felt at ease and all was okay!

May09Bump · 05/02/2021 00:13

Go for the Harmony Test as non-invasive and then take it from there. I found it quick and easy to get done.

Original poster
Excitemum · 05/02/2021 00:31

Chelyanne

Mine was the first scan which is called dating scan where they give you estimated delivery date. I am sure you will have your scan soon. We are also inclined towards the harmony scan. Btw I forgot to mention mine is ivf pregnancy. Sorry.

OP posts:
Original poster
Excitemum · 05/02/2021 00:33

Cissyandflora

What is her ratio for down syndrome?

OP posts:
Radglags · 05/02/2021 00:36

I had a 1 in 149 chance as my bloods were rubbish - really high hcg and low(ish) Papp-a.
We decided against a cvs / amniocentesis as the risk of miscarriage was 1 in 100, which was a higher risk than the baby having DS in the first place.
There was nothing ‘wrong’ on the12 week scan and when we then had our 20 week scan there were no anatomical markers ( these could be short ‘long’ bones, absence of the nasal bone, heart defects) which again seemed to suggest either no DS or a type of DS that would present more as a learning difficulty than a physical condition. DS can be anything from mild to severe and our thought process was that our child could be born with severe autism (for example) and we’d have no idea until they were older as there’s no screening that can be done in pregnancy so as long as there didn’t seem to be a life threatening issue with the baby we would continue the pregnancy.
Baby didn’t have DS but when she was a few days old my husband said ‘when do we find out if she has DS?’ - I had thought it was obvious that she didn’t but he had spent the first few days of her life thinking maybe she still had it and it hadn’t even been the top of his ‘list’ as he was so besotted with HER.

Original poster
Excitemum · 05/02/2021 00:37

namechange7567785544
Mine is also less than 1%. Congratulations for a healthy and happy baby.Smile

Nurse advised us to take any of the three tests. @namechange7567785544

OP posts:
lookingforsomehelp · 05/02/2021 00:42

Hello there OP,

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

I am sorry you are gong throu a lot of stress at the moment.
We had the same with our first DC.....NT was 2.8 (or 2.9 not 100% sure), but bloods put us in 1:100. We also opted for the harmony and if the results came back high we may have gone for an amnio but we were worried about the risk.
All came back very low chance and baby was born NT.

I found it a really hard time the waiting so I really feel for you. We wouldn't of necessarily not had the baby if he'd had DS, but I needed to know.
Best of luck and the odds and totally in your favour.
Feel free to ask any questions you may have xx

lookingforsomehelp · 05/02/2021 00:44

Also she. I was waiting for the result I read so many stories on forums like this and mostly even people with really low odds (1:10 for example) most often came back clear. X

Chelyanne · 05/02/2021 00:45

I have my scan on Tuesday so not long to wait now.
One of our twins was flagged up on the scan last time but the blood results done at dating put us low risk so I wasn't advised to have further testing. She's a perfectly healthy 5 year old now.

Original poster
Excitemum · 05/02/2021 00:47

@Radglags
My case being ivf I don't want to take any risks so may be I will go for harmony test. My scan was also fine only they found some abnormality in my blood test.

I have scan again on 29 march which is a 20 week scan, may be they will see the anatomical markers as well.

It is with every husband. My husband told me to ask baby's gender at 12 weeks, when he has been reading that you cannot tell the gender until 20 weeks and he has been searching whether the CRL can be related to being boy or a girl. GrinWink

OP posts:
Original poster
Excitemum · 05/02/2021 00:58

@lookingforsomehelp

Thanks.Smile Phew.
I am feeling good now after reading your reply.
Me and my husband had been reading different posts and forums to reassure ourself.
The waiting is the hardest part in my pregnancy from starting the ivf treatment to the pregnancy and now DS part.
What was your result from the harmony test? And was your pregnancy ivf or conceived naturally?
I need all the "best of luck" in the worldGrin

OP posts:
Original poster
Excitemum · 05/02/2021 00:59

@Chelyanne
Good luck for your scan on Tuesday.

OP posts:
Original poster
Excitemum · 05/02/2021 01:09

Thank you all for your prompt reply to my question. I have to give my decision tomorrow.
I felt so helpless as mine is ivf baby and I had been trying for so long and to get the news about the less than 1% chance of DS is devastating for me.

OP posts:
lookingforsomehelp · 05/02/2021 02:36

It was not an IVF pregnancy so I'm not sure about any information to do with that but I'm sure someone will come along and advise on that Smile
From the harmony, you generally get one of two results; high risk or low risk.
We got low risk so accepted that and didn't do any further greeting. 20 week scan all ok and then baby was Born absolutely fine.
Could you have the harmony first, as non invasive and no risk? And then if the result isn't satisfactory take it further then?
Xx

lookingforsomehelp · 05/02/2021 02:36

Good luck with your decision and the result OP xx

Bluebell9 · 05/02/2021 03:18

When I was pregnant with DD, they couldn't get a measurement at the scan as she moved too much. The results from my blood test came back as 1 in 17 chance of having DS.
I had the harmony test and the results came back as over 1 in 50,000 chance of DS.
DD is 15 months now and perfectly healthy.
I hope your tests go well.

Cissyandflora · 05/02/2021 06:22

@Excitemum

Cissyandflora

What is her ratio for down syndrome?

It was 1/100 but there were other more worrying markers. Harmony test was worth it. I paid for it as something I could do to try to help with the worries.
Mrslouu · 05/02/2021 08:39

@Excitemum we recently had a 1 in 24, paid for harmony and came back 1/10,000 chance. There is some good information on the ante natal tasting chat page.

catsrus · 05/02/2021 09:35

The key question is whether you would abort if you knew the baby had Down Syndrome. Anyone who wouldn't abort should not have an invasive test, as these come with their own small risk. The Harmony test is a good option, but it might still indicate a risk factor that requires some decisions from you.

I had my children in my late 30's and came under a LOT of pressure from one GP about having an amnio (the only option at that time). I was told I had a very HIGH risk of having a baby with DS - 1:200 but that there was a LOW risk of miscarriage caused by the amnio of 0.5%. Hmm. That's the same risk factor of 1:200. I changed GP. So please be aware that medical professionals can project their own fears, beliefs etc as they advise you. Scrutinise the stats you are given, get help from a trusted friend to put them into perspective if you are not comfortable with maths.

It's a really emotive subject for most people. I personally knew I would not abort a baby because of DS, and dh and I were in agreement, you and your dh need to have an honest an open discussion about the "what ifs" don't assume you know what the other thinks or feels, you will both be trying to protect the other.

Fingers crossed for you. Just remember the odds are in your favour. Would you buy a lottery ticket if you were told that you have OVER a 99% chance of winning? Most of us would I think.

Original poster
Excitemum · 05/02/2021 14:43

@lookingforsomehelp
Yes I am going for the harmony test and according to the result, we will take it further. So I have booked my harmony test on monday. Fingers crossed.

OP posts:
Original poster
Excitemum · 05/02/2021 14:46

@Bluebell9
How lovely to hear about your healthy baby.

Mine was the same as you when I went for my scan. Booked my harmony test for monday. 🤞

OP posts:
Original poster
Excitemum · 05/02/2021 14:48

@Cissyandflora
Of course it is a big worry when your child isn't born and you have to go through all this.

OP posts:
ILoveMyCaravan · 05/02/2021 15:01

The best advice I got from a midwife was that we needed to think what would we do with the information from a further test. This is a really important point.

My bloods had come back very high risk, I was 37 and my first pregnancy. We decided not to have any further tests as we knew we would not abort for Downs Syndrome and would deal with whatever happened at birth.