NIPT test booked for Sunday

[Greeneyesbiglashes]

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to hear others experiences of having the NIPT test. I should be 11 weeks 2 days on Sunday when i’m having it.

First questions, did people think it was worth it? I haven’t had the screening through the NHS yet but wanted to do this one anyway. I heard it’s more accurate and for peace of mind, willing to pay it.

Secondly, i’ve paid the £20 deposit and due to pay £430 before the scan. I had a sudden thought after I had booked (scan place not open till Sat to ask), what if I pay the £430 when I get there, have the scan before bloods taken and I am then told the worst, the baby hasn’t developed and there is no heartbeat.... just wondered if everyone is expected to pay upfront? I’d be absolutely devastated if I was told the baby wasn’t alive anymore, let alone then paying £450 to be told that!

What do people think?

Thanks!

I had NIPT for first child and current pregnancy. I've had 5 miscarriages so for me the early reassurance is more than worth it.

I had booked for an NIPT last year and sadly when they did the initial scan they found I'd had a MMC. Obviously I didn't then need the NIPT so they just charged me the cost of the initial scan and not the full price. I'm pretty sure that's standard practise.

I hope it goes well.

Hi @kensue19 thanks for your comment. Firstly I am so sorry to hear about your miscarriages. Sending love!

Thanks for sharing your experience, again I am so sorry. I am quite worried the same may happen with me. My nausea has completely disappeared and feeling a bit ahhh.

Thanks for your well wishes.

Also @kensue19 congrats on your pregnancy, I hope it’s all going well!

@Greeneyesbiglashes I’m sorry I can’t be of any help with your question, but I hope you don’t mind me asking a question?

I’m going to be getting the NIPT done when it’s time due to my age (38), but wondered how you decide on where to go to have it done? There are a few private places fairly local that offer it, all around the same cost. Is there any difference between places? I assume the samples all get sent off to the same lab to actually get tested?

Also I know it can be done from 10 weeks, but is there an ‘optimum’ time to have it carried out? Is it better to wait a couple of weeks after the 10 weeks to allow more fetal dna to build up in blood stream or does it make no difference?

Sorry to jump on your post.

Sending you so much luck for your scan and test! Xx

As PP said they scan you before drawing blood to make sure the pregnancy is viable.
Wherever you do the test, it goes to the same lab as all the other places offering that brand. So the more important question is which one you want. We had Harmony the first time around as it was the only one on offer but by the second child Panorama offered a fuller panel so we went for that.
If you go at 10w there’s a higher chance of there not being enough fetal dna in the sample, so better to wait a bit.
It was definitely worth it for us as the false negative rate with the test at the 12w scan is so much higher. It was also interesting to know the sex that early.

[quote Moominmiss]@Greeneyesbiglashes I’m sorry I can’t be of any help with your question, but I hope you don’t mind me asking a question?

I’m going to be getting the NIPT done when it’s time due to my age (38), but wondered how you decide on where to go to have it done? There are a few private places fairly local that offer it, all around the same cost. Is there any difference between places? I assume the samples all get sent off to the same lab to actually get tested?

Also I know it can be done from 10 weeks, but is there an ‘optimum’ time to have it carried out? Is it better to wait a couple of weeks after the 10 weeks to allow more fetal dna to build up in blood stream or does it make no difference?

Sorry to jump on your post.

Sending you so much luck for your scan and test! Xx[/quote]
Hey @Moominmiss sorry for late response to you. To be honest with you, I just Googled NIPT test and Google showed me the nearby ones. I chose one near my home after looking at reviews etc. I paid £450 if that’s of any help. I think that’s roughly average in terms of price.

I did look into the labs, I think some do go off to different ones. I googled the lab mine was going to which is called Future Health Biobank - I think this was in the Nottingham area. I do think there are others though!

I’m not sure about the optimum time, I guess from 10 weeks there must be enough of ‘something’ to be detected if that makes sense. I am around 11 weeks if that helps!

Don’t be sorry! I went this morning and had the scan first which was great and then they did the blood test. Hopefully i’ll find out the week after next and all is ok 🤞🏽 Xx

@MySocalledLoaf

As PP said they scan you before drawing blood to make sure the pregnancy is viable. Wherever you do the test, it goes to the same lab as all the other places offering that brand. So the more important question is which one you want. We had Harmony the first time around as it was the only one on offer but by the second child Panorama offered a fuller panel so we went for that. If you go at 10w there’s a higher chance of there not being enough fetal dna in the sample, so better to wait a bit. It was definitely worth it for us as the false negative rate with the test at the 12w scan is so much higher. It was also interesting to know the sex that early.

Thanks for the info @MySocalledLoaf! That makes sense re the brand! Mine was Vision if that also helps @Moominmiss

I’m not sure which one my was tbh! I just booked NIPT test! I am around 11 weeks so hoping that’s enough along to find the DNA you mention.

Thanks for your comments. Really interesting to hear other people’s opinions. I’m just 🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽 for it to show up all ok!

@Greeneyesbiglashes I'm 32 and chose to do it for 1) we wanted reassurance as it's our first 2) we had the luxury to afford it as it's not cheap. If the NHS 12 weeks scan had brought a higher probability that we would have liked then we still would have had this test before going down the invasive check on the NHS, and by then it may have been too late as there is a period of time in which you have to have the NIPT for it to be viable. In terms of differences, they definitely did a lot more checks than the 12 weeks but they did them during the 20 week such as cleft lip, digit counts etc more in depth for sure. A second opinion also helps for peace of mind.

And, as PP have said, they check for viability first.

@MySocalledLoaf and @Greeneyesbiglashes thank you both for responding to me.

I’ve spent the entire morning googling differences between harmony, panorama and SAFE tests 😩
My head feels ready to explode with the info.
On the surface they all seem fairly similar. From what I can gather panorama tests for more chromosome disorders such as turners, and also can detect for some microdeletions.

SAFE test tests for the same as harmony but is done at a lab in London and therefore a much quicker turnaround time. It’s apparently the most recommended test if the mother has a raised bmi (mine is 31 so classed as obese).

I think I will speak to my midwife this week at my appointment with her.

I am leaning towards getting the SAFE test done around 12 weeks. Hopefully that will allow for enough time for the fetal dna to show in my blood.
I’d like the panorama but I can’t seem to find anywhere local to me that offers it. I’m south west and it seems I’d have to go to London. Not ideal, though it is doable. Whereas the SAFE I can have nearer to me. Same as the harmony. That is offered at several local clinics.

God it’s all such a minefield. I think I need to step away from google for a bit. All I’ve looked at all morning are different statistics, accuracy rates, and risk factors.

Drained is not the word!

@Greeneyesbiglashes I hope you get the results of your test soon and it’s all good. Can I ask, the scan they did, was it quite thorough? Some of the private ‘for fun’ scans you can pay for aren’t always thorough, and more of a ‘here’s your baby, oh how cute’ sort of scan. I would hope that with the NIPT test/scan being an actual medical test it would be treated as a medical examination and a fairly thorough scan?

Thank you both again x