Screening shows high risk for Down's.

[OctopusBreath]

And I have no idea what to do.
Unexpected pregnancy, I have two teenagers and will be 40 when the child is born. Am nearly 15 weeks now and I really don't know whether to take the risk of having an amnio, and if I do and it comes back that the child does have Down's, what difference that will make.
Does anyone have any experience of this please? They said 1 in 78 chance...

A child in my family was born with DS after the parents refused all tests (I don't know their reasons behind this decision) the baby had to be taken to a special care unit in another city and put into a coma due to oxygen issues which can be associated with DS.

It was a very upsetting and scary time for the family, especially the mother as she could not be discharged from her hospital to travel with the baby for a couple of days.

Based on my experience and knowledge of what happened with the family I would always advise people to have the additional tests. Getting all the available knowledge can help prepare you, even if it won't change the outcome.

Sorry. I've asked for my posts to be removed.

I also had a 1 in 78 change of DS at my 12 week screening results. I opted for the NIPT test as my view was that if this came back high risk there would still be time for an amnio to confirm, I didnt want to have the invasive amnio in the first instance. My NIPT test came back low risk. It was a long week waiting for results but I felt so reassured once this came back. My PAPP-A is very low (0.15) with very slightly high HCG which I think bought about the result.
Try and think of it in reverse, 1 in 78 is still a 98.7% chance the baby doesn't have
DS - which doesn't seem so bad when you consider the risk of miscarriage before 12 weeks is about 25%, and you've made it through that!

I think it’s because if they were significantly older, they may not be able to provide in going support for a child all of that child’s life due to age.

my colleague has a 16 year old son with DS. Her son requires round the clock care including at night and needs to be on a supportive ventilator he’s at a specialist school during the day but at night she has to sleep in the same room as him. Her comment to me was her worry about who would look after him if she got ill - she’s 60 now and suffering from arthritis and struggling with a lot of things. She loves him to bits but worries about the future and who will look after him- she is a single mum. His siblings live far away and are grown up with their own families so can’t help.

it’s these sorts of issues many people have to consider and that’s why the screening is available; not because people with DS are any lesser; but the level of support they may need can be very significant.

Hi,

I had my 12 week scan and it showed i was 12 weeks 6 days. The NT Fluid was 2.5 mm but my blood results have come back as high risk of Down syndrome. I am booked into have a NIPT
tomorrow but I am concerned. I’m 23 and healthy young lady with no health conditions, this is my first baby. Has anyone had any similar experiences and the results of the NIPT have come back low risk and had a healthy pregnancy?

yes, my first pregnancy - 37 yrs old, high risk from bloods (nuchal fluid fine), nipt low risk- she was born small I had to be induced bc she stopped growing the last 4 weeks. But she was and is fine now, happy 4 year old.

the Papp a was low and that gave me risk of low birth weight and preeclampsia. Thankfully didn’t have preeclampsia.

now second pregnancy, high risk due to bloods, again, low risk from nipt. Bc of the bloods, as during my first pregnancy, I’m taking my prescribed aspirin and I will have extra scans in the last trimester to check for baby’s growth.

Your nuchal fluid is normal range so you got the high risk just from the bloods too, your age is great, wouldn't have impacted. So worth asking if you need aspirin and extra scans too.

I’m 42, 2nd pregnancy, got 1:77 risk for DS. They told me just from my age the risk would have been high: 1:100.
nipt came back today as low risk.
a lot of people are not aware that apart from DS risks, the blood results give you other risks as well.
I replied above to another mum to be. Worth asking the results in detail and if you need to take anything to prevent.
have you gone for nipt?
hat was my first call in both pregnancies, I would have only gone to cvs or amnio of nipt came back high.