Did you have your NT scan?.. Thinking I wont...

[diannescruffy]

Hi,
I agree totally with Feeb. These tests can just put unnecessary stress on you during your pregnancy. I was 37 with my last pregnancy and did not have any diagnostic testing done and had a healthy baby. If your instincts are telling you not to have it, listen to yourself.

regards,
Dianne

[Indadhanu]

I had it done because I wanted to see bub, and in part I wanted to be informed as well as I was stressing that something was wrong. I knew I would never terminate the pregnancy, but I just needed to KNOW. For me I was stressing so much that not having it done and not knowing would have caused as much stress as having it done and getting a high risk (though I ended up finding something else to stress about anyway ).

I think if you're instincts are telling you to not worry about getting it done then I wouldn't.

[Kitt3n]

I had it done.

They told me high risk - i knew they were wrong. after 24 hours of hell watiing for the CVS results i found out i was right.

Go with your gut feeling hun - with your intuition i doubt you will have anything to worry about!!

[Phteven]

I've never had it done. I wouldn't terminate a pregnancy so it seemed pointless.

[HotI]

I had it done because I wanted to see bub

You can still have an ultrasound if you want to see the bub, and tell them you don't want the NT measured.

[MantaRay]

Jodie, if you are not going to have further testing, then I wouldn't. The NT test is not able to tell you anything conclusive, and if it gives you a "high risk" all it will do is worry you. Trust your instinct.

[[M]umma[M]ia]

yep i had it done. Also i only had it done just to see bubs coz when ur 12 weeks ur not really showing so i needed to make sure it was really happening. it was mainly for mine and DP's peace of mind.

[Beach Mama]

I didn't have it done with Izzy, and I worried all the way to my 20 week scan off and on about it. I m/c at 12 weeks before I had her so I always stress during pg and I don't know that I would terminate however this time around I didn't want the stress that I had with Izzy and not knowing if that makes sense. Although I had a whole new lot of stress waiting to have the appointment, getting my scan results and waiting for my blood/combined results. In hindsight I probably had just as much stress but in a lesser amount of time. Fortunately our results came back with very low risk, 1 in 11,500 for downs, and 1 in 65,000 for Trisomy 18. As the other posters have said, I guess you need to decide that if you do the stress and results may still not be conclusive and will that just make your stress and worry even higher? It's a tricky one hun - good luck deciding.

[Rouge]

I wouldn't terminate but there are other things that can be picked up other than what the scan is designed for. For example I have had a few friends who didn't have the scan and then their baby had to be birthed shortly after their 18 wk scan due to deformities as the babies would have died in the womb regardless. Both of these people had gone to all the efforts of decorating nursery's, baby showers the works. Then one day out of the blue when they least expect it they are told their baby is so severely deformed that it is amazing it survived this far and it will die either in the womb or they can go ahead with labour now. I would want to know that before the 18-20 week scan. Its a hard situation regardless but I'd still want to know. Also having had miscarriages I would hate to find out at 20 weeks that I had a missed miscarriage early on and I had been carrying an angel bubba for that long iykwim? But I am a worrier with regards to all this stuff, and after seeing the suffering some of my friends have gone through it may not have been any easier but some parts of the grief would have been easier managed had it been earlier.

Keep in mind though, everyone is different and what may be a concern for one may not be for another.

[PinkPalace]

HI girls with DD #1 i did have it done although in a low risk but really wanted to see bub
WIth #2 we didnt mostly because we didnt have any money to pay for it.

Csab i totally agree with you. It is a big decision and something that needs serious thought so you can mame the decision right for you when deciding to bring a child in to the world with possible disability.

[csab]

In reguards to the people that say, you wouldnt terminate a pgcy. When you are faced with a decision that your child could possibly have something terribly wrong you are faced with so many questions for yourself.
I would never ever have thought that I would be faced with such a decision.
Some of the questions I had to ask myself were:
What sort of life will my baby be facing?
How would my children cope?
How would my DH and my marriage cope?
Then you are also faced with:
How am I ever going to live with myself if I had to make this decision.

It is one thing having a m/c, but knowing that there is a decision in your hands that could affect your whole life for the rest of your life is just the most heart wrenching.

My NT scan gave me a 1 in 28 chance of a baby with DS. It was one of the most agonising waits just to have the results from the CVS, but I doubt very much whether I would have coped thru out the whole pg if I didnt know for sure, as well as after a certain point for me due to previous c/s's I had to make a decision quickly JIC the worst was to happen.

I hope I havent upset anyone, but you really have to be certain with what ever you decide is it the best for the baby as well as you and your family. When faced with decisions like this it is never taken lightly.

So whoever is going to go thru with their NT scan and you end up with a high risk result, make sure the decision you make is the right one for you as to whether you want to do a CVS or amnio or not.....

to all....

[kristy J]

csab i agree with you....

I do think the scan is worth doing. i believe knowing is better than being in the dark about something.
the scan is not really about if you would terminate or not, its more about being informed.

all the questions csab asked last post is exactly the questions we asked ourselves before we had our scan done.

Its a personal choice but make sure you are 100% informed about your future and your childrens future. I always like to be prepared for the worst and be happy when everything is ok.

Good luck......

[mumrach]

I had an u/s at 9 weeks due to spotting (everything was fine) and I asked the Radiologist about NT scan, in his opinion it is an unnecessary test. He pointed out that there has been very few instances where the test has been correct. He said to me that he has seen u/s where you would think that there would be not a chance that the child has a problem and then they are born with Downs, and the same for the other side, he has seen scans where the fold was so thick and the chances are so high, yet the amnio came back fine. Then there is the risk of m/c. I have never had a NT with my children, but I must admit I was tempted this time I don't think I would terminate anyway, so I just let it go. I think it is a decision that you and your family have to make, and discuss all the pros and cons for getting one. Best of luck what ever you decide

[Pretty Butterfly]

MUMRACH, those are the exact reasons I wont have it done.
Its still such a guessing game, and to be honest, when I have a higher chance of miscarriage from amnoi, than I do of having another cleft bub, its just not worth it for me...

Niliac, Your post made me think!!! I wonder if those problems would of been picked up at 12 weeks?? Kanes major bone structure problems weren't even noticed at 12 weeks, and were even just a "guess" at 19 weeks till we had a 3d scan done.

I think Ill book my 12 week scan for here in town, and if it shows anything abnormal, then travel for the NT scan. ( I'll have to travel an hour away for it!)

Thanks ladies for your thoughts. I like to know all sides.!!

[trini246]

i didnt have it as there wasnt any point as it wouldnt have changed anything!

[Starzia]

I had a dating scan at 9 weeks as I was unsure of my dates, so therefore have decided not to do the 12 wk scan as well. Ultrasounds are stressful for the baby so although they are very useful I believe they should be kept to a minimum if possible. If I was over 35 or had Downs in the family would probably reconsider but with neither of these risk factors I feel I am likely to be low risk anyway. At the 18 week scan thorough checks are carried out which can often pick up Downs as well as many other abnormaities so I would just rather wait until then and limit the stress to the baby.

[paradise lost]

I had to have one scan to book my homebirth (to check for placenta praevia which cannot be dealt with at home). It would have been at 13 weeks but i was going to be on holiday then so i had it done at 11weeks. I declined N/T measurement.

It does not diagnose and it does not treat, and i didn't want to have a "risk" factor when it's a pointless number. Very very high risk (say 1 in 10) is still telling you there a 90% chance everything is fine. I wouldn't risk miscarriage on those odds so there was no point.

TBH if they hadn't required a placental-siting for my homebirth i'd not have had a scan at all. I would not be able to terminate a pregnancy. Even if my baby was going to die in utero or at birth, i'd rather not know. If i am only going to get 18 or 24, or 40 weeks of pregnancy or 2 hours or 5 days or 3 weeks of life after birth with my child, then i'd rather enjoy them and not waste them on worry and dread. Life is precious, cruelly shortened life even more so. JMO. I don't believe it is up to me to choose for them if they should come to earth or not and i do not currently feel i am in a position to decide whether someone who i haven't even met has a life ahead of them that is worth living based purely on the most limited of medical possibilities for them. Again, JMO.

Bx

[Tobily]

I didn't have it with either of mine.

The false positive rate for this scan is obscene. It really is. Too many women have the bejeezus scared out of them for nothing.
This scan is being offered now as part of routine care despite the high positive rate and distress it can cause. If you're going to have it you need to be clear about what you want to know from it, and what you would do if you received a suspect result. This often leads to even more invasive testing (amnio etc) with an increased risk of miscarriage that is very high, especially if it turns out, as it often does, that your bub is healthy.

I dunno, I think there is a place for prenatal testing but this particular scan/test really bugs me because it has the potential to cause so much unnecessary stress in healthy couples with healthy babies.