Is NIPT free on the NHS?

[Honeybee76]

Hi there
Currently 13 weeks pregnant and had my dating scan few days ago and also the blood tests for Down syndrome etc. NT was 1.6mm(which is very normal).
But unfortunately got a call from the hospital that the blood test showed high risk for DS.
I have an appointment in a few days and not sure what i will be offered in terms of further testing.
I have done my research but still very confused.
Peiple are opting to have the NIPT test privately.Why is that? Is it a long wait if done through the NHS.
Please help.
Worried Mama here...

Nipt when you have high risk from bloods is free in NHS, the wait is 1-2 weeks for results, depending on where you are.
some people choose to pay private even if their bloods come back low risk as the bloods are not not always correct due to th fact they take in other factors in to consideration to give you you’re screening results (age, bmi, smoker etc)
I had a high risk for DS on bloods, nipt came back negative for DS.
if I had a baby again I would pay private for nipt as you can have it done much earlier than on nhs

I believe you will be offered it yes, as well as a potential CVS (fluid from the amniotic fluid) to determine any chromosomal abnormalities.

My friend went through something similar however the measurement was 8.7 so she was offered the CVS immediately and bypassed the NIPT. sadly her baby had Turner's syndrome and was incompatible with life.

Thinking of you and wishing you the best outcome. X

Hi Honeybee, congratulations on your pregnancy. Sorry you are worried. In my trust if your adjusted risk of Down’s syndrome comes out as 1:150 or less you are offered NHS NIPT testing, it is a blood test and can be done straight away but the results take a week or so.

Some people choose to pay for a private NIPT for extra peace of mind earlier in pregnancy, and sometimes to find out the baby’s sex sooner, along with other helpful information. They may not need the test medically; it’s simply additional information rather than waiting for the NHS screening timeline.

I had it privately with both of mine because I wanted to check for any chromosomal issues as early as possible.

Having it done on NHS won’t mean it’s a substandard test OP or will take longer. They will get you the results asap.

best of luck

I had 1:28 risk of Downs syndrome and was offer NIPT or amniocentesis. I did find they really tried to push the amnio (as it is diagnostic, rather than NIPT which is related to liklihood). Despite the pushing, I opted for NIPT as the accuracy is incredibly high and felt much less invasive. I got a low risk result and DS2 was born without a chromosomal difference. I'm now pregnant with DC3 and we opted to pay for a private NIPT at 11 weeks as I found the whole process with DS2 very stressful and didn't want to put myself through that again. We had the result before the 12 week scan and happily declined the NHS screening blood test.

I paid privately for all four of mine due to my age (40-47). Definitely worth the extra reassurance and as a bonus get to find out the sex which narrows down the list of potential names!

Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for all your replies they’ve been incredibly reassuring. I’ve decided to go ahead with the NIPT and I’m feeling very hopeful that everything will be fine. I was told the results can take up to five working days, but there’s a chance they may come back sooner. Really grateful for all the support. 💛

Hi OP, I'm exactly in the same boat. All normal on scan but combined results gave an increased chance of DS so I was offered the NIPT on the NHS. I'm now waiting for the results. The wait is awful, I hope you're coping well. Best of luck to you x

Hi there,
I hope you’re doing well. Luckily, I received my NIPT results within two days, and thankfully they came back as low chance. It’s such a huge relief to hear this.

I truly wish the same reassuring outcome for you as well. 🌸

Thank you. I just received my results today which came back as low chance. This was sooner than I expected, took just 2 days. I'm so glad to hear you also got positive news! x

Hi there

I'm currently 30 weeks pregnant and was referred to pre term labour team around 23 weeks due to history of premature labour with my last baby (who is now 10 years old ) born at 34 weeks

They did a transvaginal ultrasound and told me that I will most likely have a pre term labour this time around as well due to something to do with my cervix.

I was prescribed vaginal pessaries of 400g progesterone every night.

Now I'm just worried thinking i have had no.follow up appointment or scan regarding this issue.

I'm worried.need some advice please.

I’m currently 12+6 with an ivf pregnancy and have had previous loss so I’m just super anxious about everything. We opted to do private NIPT at 11+1 in order to get results as quick as we can and also because NIPT is more accurate than NHS screening (99.98% vs 60-80%). We also have a friend who’s baby didn’t flag with the nhs screening but was born with downs. We were very happy we went for the private NIPT as we got ‘very low risk’ result at 12+4, went for NHS ‘12 week scan’ at 12+5 and they said they weren’t able to measure the NT so gave it up as a bad job 🙃 if I’m lucky enough to have a second pregnancy in the future I would 100% pay for the private NIPT again. Best of luck xx