How many of you opt to have NT scan?

Hi girls,

I am currently pregnanct with baby #2, and I am nearly 10 weeks along. I have been feeling very tired and sick which isn't very fun (but it is reassuring to know bub is there).

Anyway, i had an appt with my GP the other day to get blood tests etc, and she asked me if I would like to get the screening test for Down syndrome (11 -13 weeks). I didn't get it for my DD, and I said I probably wouldn't for this one either. I had a friend who got a high risk result and her baby ended up being healthy. We wouldn't terminate the pregnancy either (unless it was something life threatening for the baby).

Now I keep thinking maybe I should get it done (mainly to reassure me that things are ok). Really not sure!!! I am 29 years old and will be 30 by the time the baby arrives. What do you ladies think about the test? How amy of you decided to get it and was your result accurate?

I had a miscarriage last year so I am feeling a little nervous about this pregnancy. So far everything is going well. I just have to try and stay positive and have faith that all will be ok.

Thanks for any advice!!!

Me 29
DH 28
DD Born 29 May 2007
Miscarriage August 08

I am probably going to get in trouble for this but I had it done just to get another look at bubs! I also wouldn't have terminated but I guess we could have been prepared if there were any problems but mainly it was just to see that bouncing little bean and man - they are so well developed by 12wks - amazing

I am 26, DH is 31 - I wouldn't of bothered getting the NT scan done but DH wanted it as he was deported to Afghanastan years ago and was worried as to the what he may have been exposed to. Anyways we got it done and we had a 1 in 3 chance of having a Down Syndrome baby. We had an Amnio and our baby did not have DS, however she did have a chromosome deletion. There are only 7 others babies listed as born with this deletion in the world and where given a list of things that may be wrong with her. We were told to abort and pretty much told she would be intellectually and physically disabled. Well she was born, not healthy but definatly not disabled and now you would not even realsie that she had problems at birth. She is perfect.

The NT scan just tells you what your risk 'may' be. An amnio or CVS is the only way of knowing for sure. I have know of 3 other people get a 1 in 3 chance of DS and their babies were 100% healthy, sometimes it scares you for nothing, then I also know a couple that came back 'no risk' 1 in 1000's and their baby boy was born with DS.

Hmm.... it is not my intention at all to scare you, actually the opposite. We went against there opinions and have a beautiful girl. I personally wouldn't bother getting one again as it will not change anything, we will birth our baby no matter what any tests say.

I think it is a very peronal thing and something that only you and your partner can decide.

Good Luck with your pregnancy and a happy and healthy baby :D

I am probably the worst person to answer this because I am so laid back about the whole deal. I hate the several dozen appointments, the tests, the poking, the prodding, the "we just wanna check this". Drives me COMPLETELY insane. In turn, I drive them completely insane by the majority of the time, opting for the least invasive option every time. They wanted to do weekly BT for my anti-e, but I didn't see the point because the titer had been the same for 3 months. Was happy to agree with weekly US's to check the blood flow though. Cripes, Who wouldnt be?? You don't often get the option of seeing your bub every week for 12 weeks before he is born!

I'd be of the same opinion for this variance. They can screen with US and if it had anything to worry about, then I would considder the blood test. But if it won't change your mind at all, then its not something worth stressing yourself about during the pregnancy. Conversely, if you are now going to stress over it, agree to the US screen to set your mind at ease. Whatever will cause you the least worry in the long run is the barometer I use.

I was told that if I was not prepared to do the further test if a hisk risk result came back then there was no point.
Then we are also of the mind set that IF there were abnormalities we would in fact terminate the pregnancy as our situation we just could not look after a child with special needs.
Its a very personal thing I think its great to get a look at bub and it is reassuring when the test comes back that all is good.

If your not concerned from a peace of mind perspective then don't other with it.

I had it done at 13 weeks but never got the results. The hospital that I was going to had a policy that they do an NT scan at 13 weeks and then the morpholgy scan at 19 weeks, but no other scans are done unless you paid for them yourself with no medicare rebate. I had it done purely for the fact that I was desperate to see my bub on the screen and make sure it had a healthy heartbeat. I didn't want to wait until 19 weeks to see my new bub:D

I didn't get it done with ds or this bub. My doctor said there was no point unless you are willing to terminate.

I would argue there is a point even if you wouldn't terminate, my situation was that the scan said we had a health baby but when combined with the blood test results our risk was increased. While the scan and blood test is primarily checking for markers for downs syndrome the results can also show other things. In my case it showed there was low protein a in the placenta.

Protein-a is a growth hormone and when the placenta is low it means the baby won't get as much growth hormone as usual ie resulting in a small baby. While only that is not an issue, what it also means is the placenta can stop functioning properly and the baby stops getting everthing it needs. In years gone by prior to the NT screening mothers still could get this problem but it was never detected and the result was still born babies. Thankfully due to us having the NT scan and blood test our OB knows of this issue and can closely monitor the babies growth so a decision can be made when the baby is better out than in. He has said he is hoping to get me to 34weeks.

So moral of the story is there are other benefits to these tests. While having low protein a is not common it is not uncommon my OB is currently treating 2 others with the same issue.

We had an NT scan and the blood test as well. I chose to do it because I wanted to be reassured basically! I had had an awful pregnancy up to that point (i was so sick, and soooo paranoid that there was something wrong with my baby!) However, my thinking was that if the testing came back with a high risk for Downs syndrome or the other trisomy's that it tests for, then I would like to collect as much information as possible, perhaps join a support group or something so I could speak to people that have had the same experiences. We would not have terminated my pregnancy at all.

We didn't get it done with either of our boys. We did have a dating scan at the time we would have had the NT scan so we still got to see our bubba and check things were coming along nicely.

Good luck with whatever decision you make.
All the best with the rest of your pregnancy too.

xox

I had it done with DS1 & DS2 and will with D?3 when they come along too. I am a real planner and although I would not terminate for Downs, I would like to be prepared so I could educate myself and my family as much as possible if my baby was to have such a disability.

Hey there,
I really didnt want to have the NT test done either - for simular reasons to you. If my baby did have downs then it wouldnt make a difference we would not terminate. And also given that we are already in the lower risk area because of both of our ages. We did however have a 12 week scan jut to check things - i am a nervous pregnant woman! And the ultrasound lady was lovely and actually checked the measurements anyway - and said that they were completly normal so even if we had the ful screen we prob had nothing to worry about - maybe you could ask for something like this? Or go with what Inertia said - have the scan (if only to see bubs!) and depending on the measurment then decide on the rest.

A girlfriend of mine had it and was told she was at extreamly high risk (even being only 18 y/o) at the time - she went on to have an amnio and her baby was normal - which was fantastic - but while she was waiting for the results and everything - she damn near lost the baby anyway from the stress of it all. Which as it turns out was all for nothing. Just makes you wonder about it all i think...

I didn't get the NT scan done, but like other ladies I had a dating scan done at 12 weeks. This meant I got to see DD, and the sonographer had a quick check of her nuchal thickness and nasal bone anyway and said that it all looked good.

I have not had the NT scan with either of my pregnancies, I will however get it done if I have a third. When I had my 19 week scan the woman said there were 3 soft markers for down syndrome, which probably meant nothing but because I hadn't had the NT test they couldn't rule out their significance. Needless to say I was a little stressed. I didn't want to terminate a DS baby, but noone wants there to be anything wrong with their baby.
I didn't want an amnio based on one u/s showing soft markers so after much stressing I had a second opinion scan done at another centre. Two specialists scanned me, I was there for over an hour while they analysed everything from every possible angle, and they could only find 1 of the 3 markers that were supposedly there 5 days earlier, hence I was still low risk and had been stressing for no reason. Well, I am still to have this baby so I guess we are still to find out for sure, but no amnio was recommended and I haven't worried about it since.

Even if you do not wish to terminate, the NT scan is much more accurate at detecting and ruling out problems than any later scans. Also therapy for DS babies starts about a week after birth so knowing in advance can be a big help to your stress levels after the birth. It can also allow you to 'warn' people before the baby is born so you are not bombarded with pitying looks after the birth.

It is definitely up to you, but I would say that the NT scan is more likely to rule out problems than anything else and you can relax for the rest of the pregnancy.

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I didn't get the NT scan done, but like other ladies I had a dating scan done at 12 weeks. This meant I got to see DD, and the sonographer had a quick check of her nuchal thickness and nasal bone anyway and said that it all looked good.

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If the sonographer's are looking at nuchal thickness, then they are doing a screen. This is ok if you are happy for it to occur and it all looks good, BUT if you have stated that you don't want the screen (and don't want the info that measuring the NT can bring) and this is done then you may be presented with info that you didn't want to have.

All ultrasounds are done to look for things that are 'out of the norm', and people should be aware that this is their real purpose, not to give parents an opportunity to look at their baby.

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If the sonographer's are looking at nuchal thickness, then they are doing a screen. This is ok if you are happy for it to occur and it all looks good, BUT if you have stated that you don't want the screen (and don't want the info that measuring the NT can bring) and this is done then you may be presented with info that you didn't want to have.

All ultrasounds are done to look for things that are 'out of the norm', and people should be aware that this is their real purpose, not to give parents an opportunity to look at their baby.

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Kate, I realise that this is the purpose of the scans. Having a look at DD was an added bonus for us :). We were there for a dating scan. It wasn't an NT scan and was not backed up with the usual blood tests.

There are additional ultrasounds you can get though if you just want to have a look at your baby. I won't begrudge any woman who wants to have a look at their bubba! It is a great stress relief and a wonderful way to bond.

I agree that it is such a personal choice. We both agreed that we were going to have it done while we were still TTC. We also agreed that should we get a high-risk reading, we would have an amnio or CVS. Taking the decision then made it easier to go ahead a do what was a very emotional screening for both of us when the time came. I do not necessarily agree with the view that it is pointless unless you are willing to terminate. I would rather say that it is pointless unless you are willing to have an amnio or further examinations to clarify any doubts. Just my opinion :)

Our reasoning was that, whilst we may not have terminated (unless the baby had no chance of survival and / or would pose a very serious life risk to me), we felt that being informed of any potential challenges lying ahead would empower us and equip us to more readily handle a child with special needs and requirements. The last thing we wanted was to be in the awful position of not being properly prepared to support a child that had very specific emotional, physical or financial needs that we may have been unable to cater for had we not known in advance.

Further to this, we knew that at the scan we would be able to have them check a variety of other things. They checked the health and position of my cervix, the blood flow in and out of the umbilical cord, that bub had 4 properly-sized heart chambers, that the placenta was in the right spot and healthy etc.

Our risk for DS is extremely low, which we are so thankful for. The hour-long scan was very special for both DH and I. DH walked out saying that he would have to categorise that scan as one of the top 3 experiences of his life. It was for both of us - we were both in tears most of the way through. So whilst it could have been a sad experience for us, we were fortunate enough to have had a very special one.

Nothing has changed for us and we will definitely have NT scans (and amnios, if required) for all future pregnancies.

Firstbub, it is such a difficult decision to make and I hope that our feedback helps. Big :hug: x

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Kate, I realise that this is the purpose of the scans. Having a look at DD was an added bonus for us :). We were there for a dating scan. It wasn't an NT scan and was not backed up with the usual blood tests.

There are additional ultrasounds you can get though if you just want to have a look at your baby. I won't begrudge any woman who wants to have a look at their bubba! It is a great stress relief and a wonderful way to bond.

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However, if she examined the NT, the NT scan has been done, even though that wasn't the purpose of you having the scan. The blood test in conjunction with the NT scan is known as the first trimester screen, (which you didn't have) but by default you ended up having the NT scan.