NIPT x2 Low Fetal Fraction

[peanutbutterandappleslices]

I'm having a bit a nightmare with my NIPT. At my 12 week scan, they couldn't get a NT measurement because of the position of the baby, so I didn't have a NIPT blood test, they gave me the quadruple instead. This came back low chance of Downs, but I hadn't realised it wouldn't test for Edwards and Pataus.

My midwife managed to convince the matron to let me have a NIPT (without a scan). The first result got lost in the post, but the second and third results came back low fetal fraction. This led the screening department and fetal medicine team to recommend an amniocentesis, as it was repeated low fetal fraction. My last pregnancy ended in miscarriage, and I don't want to do anything that might make this happen again.

My scan is completely fine with no indication of chromosomal anamoly, but I just don't know if I've done the right thing not having an amniocentesis. Has low fetal fraction ended in a healthy pregnancy for anyone else?

Do you know what your fetal fraction is? Some more advanced NIPTs don’t require a high FF. The NHS test is not very advanced.

Really annoyingly no, I don't have any detailed information. All I know is it's low fetal fraction on both test results through the NHS.

If you can somehow find out, it might help you decide whether to go for a private test. The panorama test needs a FF of 2.8%, for context mine was 8.5% at 10 weeks. It may be worth just going for it anyway as they’re more detailed and accurate than the NHS one.

I had a very low fetal fraction - it was only 3% at 10 weeks when I did a private NIPT with a company called Concepto but they were still able to give me accurate results. Apparently their tests can work with very low fetal fraction.
It does cost £300, but the results only took a couple of days so might be worth looking in to if you can afford to.
I would be very cautious about doing an amnio when there is zero indication that anything is wrong.

Thank you both for these replies! This is where things get murkier. I rang the hospital's screening department and they've said it's "suspected" low fetal fraction because the lab couldn't get any reading at all. So there's no percentage proof that it's low fetal fraction, just suspected because they couldn't get enough dna from my blood tests to get any form of result. That feels a bit like there's room for reasons other than low fetal fraction, like lab error, my BMI or even that I might have gestational diabetes. As AnnieStar12 said, there isn't any indication beyond no result to get an amnio. Feeling a bit better about saying no, and think it might be worth the investment ttcat37 suggests for a private NIPT at a different lab...