Screening tests

[Esme78]

Hi ladies

I am currently waiting for my 12-week scan and have my first appointment with a community midwife next week. I would welcome your advice/experiences on screening tests or possibly diagnostic tests. I am concerned about risks associated with miscarriage related to diagnostic tests, albeit small, but assume screening tests are standard? Thank you. BTW, I am 40 and this is our first pregnancy after a very long (in)fertility journey as a result of fertility treatment.

[Lovefood1984]

The tests they do at 12 weeks are measurements on the baby to check growth and they do a downs/Edwards test for which all they do is measure the nuchal cavity at the back of the neck (during scan) and a blood test for you so no miscarriage risk at all. If you come back high risk then you’ll be offered more invasive testing which then does carry a risk. It’s up to you if you want any of the tests of course, personally I didn’t see the harm in the first stage of testing, would have been a different matter if I’d come back high risk then the decision would have become trickier. Hope this helps you make the decision that’s right for you x

[Hidden]

Hi Esme, I highly recommend this book ‘Expecting better’ by Emily Oster. It has a section on the tests they do, explaining what their purpose is and any associated risks. The info given is based on a range of scientific studies to provide statistics on how likely it is anything will go wrong. It also covers a lot of other topics throughout pregnancy. I felt more informed about what’s fact and what is often unintentional scaremongering (even from health care professionals), and so now feel better informed to make the right choices for me/baby.

I’m also 40yrs old and it’s taken us a while to get here, so I’m in a similar position to you.

[E_05]

The initial test at 12 weeks is just a blood test if it came back high risk the further diagnostic testing has a risk on miscarriage. Like yourself we’ve been on a long journey to get pregnant so decided not to have the blood test, we would of never had the further tests so didn’t see the point of potentially being added with more worry throughout the pregnancy x