Down Syndrome test

[smiles4u]

I had a 1/97 reading ... in which my young GP handled it terribly ... making me feel like I actually was carrying a Downs baby then not


It was one of the worst days of my life & it was so uncalled for as it could have been handled with in a different manner.


I went ahead with a CVS test soon after (keeping in mind this was my 1st pregnancy to get this far at 39 yrs of age) and it turned out my baby was SUPER FINE


Though not sure if I'd go through with a CVS test again (I think a lot of older Mothers feel somewhat pressured to ... well, that's how my GP made me feel. And to think a CVS test can create a m/c ... 1 in 100 chance of happening) !!!!


My daughter is now 2 & she is a very bright & beautiful & healthy girl

[paradise lost]

Tenar does your DP realise you would never be OFFERED a termination for a 1:100 chance of Down's or any other chromasomal disorder? The option isn't presented like that.

You would have the N/T, then based on that result (which might be high or medium or low) they would offer you CVS or amniocentesis. From THOSE results they would tell you if your baby had chromasomal disorders or not and then and ONLY then would termination be offered as a possibility, IF the baby had a chromasomal problem. Based only on NT results you would have to go to the doctor and have a termination for social resons (i.e. don't want the baby). Any doctor, even if you had a VERY high risk factor on the NT, would counsel against termination on those results, the NT is NOT a diagnostic test, it screens for risk factor only.

I do know of a woman who had terrible CVS results and decided against medical advice to continue (they wanted to wait for the amnio, but decided not to have it due to the miscarriage risk, then wanted to wait for the 20 week scan which was only a few weeks away anyway, and everything looked surprisingly ok so they went on) the pregnancy and had a completely healthy girl. The placenta is formed from the father's RNA (Ryn please come in here and correct me!) and is closely linked to the baby but NOT the same as the baby's DNA. You CAN get a baby with a chromasomally damaged placenta/cord who is healthy.

Bx

[HotI]

The placenta is formed from the father's RNA (Ryn please come in here and correct me!) and is closely linked to the baby but NOT the same as the baby's DNA. You CAN get a baby with a chromasomally damaged placenta/cord who is healthy.

Bx

The placenta is formed from cells of the zygote (the product from where the egg and sperm meet). As the cells divide and multiply, some cells go to produce the placenta and some cells go to make the baby.

So, the cells in placenta are like really early baby cells. They can be identical to the baby but little changes can occur in the placenta cells that do not happen to the cells in the baby.

CVS takes a sample of cells from the placenta, and examines the chromosomes etc. It is possible, but rare, for a CVS to find cells in the placenta that show trisomy 21 (or another condition) that is not present in the baby.

Depending on the number of cells found with the condition and the condition that is found (e.g. trisomy 1 would not result in a live baby so they can tell that this would only be in the placenta), they might reccomend an amnio to check whether the baby also has the condition.

Amnio looks at cells in the fluid that have come from the baby, and are therefore a better representation of the cells that are present in the baby.