i have heard recently that ppls bloods are coming back bad when the scans have been good??? my scan was 1:5000 and something would my bloods be able to make that into something worrying?
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i have heard recently that ppls bloods are coming back bad when the scans have been good??? my scan was 1:5000 and something would my bloods be able to make that into something worrying?
How long ago did you go and get your bloods done?
My downs risk was 1:21500..
I'm pretty sure that the hospital would have received your blood results and worked with the u/s result too to get the end result. If you are worried/unsure or have any question, give the place a call or call your gp/ob
i didn't have the blood test dr said hed only make me have it if the risk was around 1:200 i am a severe needle phobic
I went and had my pg confirmed by my GP today (well actually Itold him I was pg and he said "Congrats, where are you gonna go?", but that's another story.) Anyway, we spoke of the scan/bloodtest thing which is new since DS was born in June 2005.
Apparently, it's the combination of factors from the blood and the results of the scan which give a more accurate ration for downs. Let me get the paperwork so I can quote...
I think that long winded explination can be summed up by the last line, but I didn't know that until I typed it all. Hopefully someone will find it all interesting.:
What does the screening test for Down Syndrome involve?
1. A blood test
2. An ultrasound
By combining the results of the 2 parts of the test, it is possible to identify if a pregnant woman may be at increased risk of having a baby with Down Syndrome. By itself, the test does not tell you whether the baby has DS or now. It identifies women who should be offered furthr testing to determine if their baby is affected.
Part 1, the Blood test.
The blood test, also known as teh maternal serum screening test measures the amount of two different proteins called PAPP-A and beta HCG which appear naturally in the mother's blood during pregnancy. A change in the level of these proteins may indicate that tehre is an increased risk that the baby has DS. Previously a similar test was available but only after 14wks pregnancy.
Part 2, The ultrasound.
The ultrasounds can be done by a specially trained untrasonographer between 11wks 3 days and 13wks 6days of pregnancy...
The ultrasound allows measurements of the amount of fluid in the skin at the back of the baby's neck. This measureemnt is called teh nuchal transluciency.
All babies at this stage of pregnancy ahve some fluid in this area, but on average a baby with DS or another chromosome abnormality has a larger amount of fluid. The NT measurement can therefore be used to identifiy if a baby has an increased risk of DS.
...
How accurate is the test?
By combining the knowledge of the woman's age, the results of the blood test and nuchal translucency measurement, the test can identify about 9 out of 10 pregnancies in which they baby has DS. This is more accurate than each test done by itself.
HTH
coz for my age there is a 1:1064 risk of downs then plus the scan makes it 1:5764 but i didn't have any bloods
Noni, I wouldn't worry about it too much, if you were high risk for any reason your GP would probably have talked you into the bloods. As it is, I understand the bloods only make the final result 10% more accurate anyway.
My post scan risk was down in the hundreds (not the thousands) so I'm sure you will be ok.
My risk due to age was 1:800.
My risk due to age & ultrasound was 1:1600.
My risk due to age, ultrasound & bloods was 1:7300.
so in my case the blood result swung the odds HEAPS in my favour. i'm not sure what formula they use is though, so i'm not sure if it ALWAYS improves the odds, or can increase or decrease them depending on blood results...
With Max my starting risk for downs was 1 in 650, the NT scan showed bubs had a nuchal fold measurement of 1.7mm so well within the "normal" range. After the bloods combined it increased to 1 in 278. With trisomy 13 and 18 my starting risk was 1 in 1200, after blood test results increased to 1 in 98.
Was it your GP or OB that said he wouldn't do the bloods, if it was an ob I would relax, but if it was a GP I think I would get a second opinion.
it was originally me saying i didn't really want it as no exageration when they take blood from me i do end up kicking screaming and crying huge anxiety attack really embarassing and not much fun for anyone involved... as my gp knew this he said depending on the ultrasound we will see what we need to do... the sonographer said in reference to the same thing when i explained the situation that really with odds like that he wouldn't bother with the bloods... its really hard for me but i want whats best for the baby and am a bit confused now to be honest!!!
Hi All my risk after age, bloods and ultrasound is about 1:600. The Dr said this is good, and that I dontneed anything else, but it looks like all of yours were a lot higher??? Should i be worried?
Hi - try not to worry.. My age risk was 1:300, reduced to 1:5000+ after the screening tests - if they were worried, they'd have sent you for that blood test whether you liked it or not! Also, a girlfriend had both tests done and was given a 1:13 chance of Down's, went ahead and had baby anyway, absolutely fine. Her opinion was that the nuchal fold test was the most important factor- high measurement, high risk.. her nuchal fold measurement was good, but bloods actually made her figures worse..
Try not to worry!
Oh, also - maybe think about having some type of therapy about the needle thing - maybe hypnotherapy? Give it a go, as I can tell you from someone (due today!) who's been there, ya got more needles to go before this pregnancy is over!
Just a thought.. good luck..
If you found out your baby was highly likely to have Down's after having a blood test, would that change things for you? Would you choose not to continue with the pregnancy? If you would continue regardless, then it really doesn't matter if you have the blood test or not I would think.
I spoke to the genetic counsellor about this, she said they don't really understand what other factors change your blood results, or why some women's bloods test wildly out of the normal range when they are having normal babies. So in that sense, the actual nuchal fold test is more telling in most cases.
thanks for all ur help guys
I'm 32, I had a normal NT scan (1.6) but the blood test came back "abnormal", almost double what it should have been. Therefore my risk for Downs went up from 1:416 to 1:265, they consier anything lower than 1:300 to be a risk. I had a CVS and it was a horrendous wait of four days (usually 2 working days but because I had it all done on Friday, I had to wait over the weekend too - make sure when u go for tests it's earlier in the week). Anyway, everything was normal, in the end I think the Drs have to cover their bases - if he said, "look at 1:265, the risk of Downs is 0.37% don't worry about further testing", and then the baby ended having a condition, he may be worried about being sued. It's interesting to note that the risk of miscarrying from the CVS is 0.5% (in this case higher than my chances of having a Down's baby) - I found that out later!
Lilli really glad to hear all went well.
Thank you, it was a huge scare, but feel much more optimistic now!
I'm going quietly crazy here. My GP told me that the best (most accurate) results are obtained during the 10th week. OK, fine, I'm just into my 10th week, had the referral for the bloods and the ultrasound. Just peachy so far.
I had made an appointment for the ultrasound today at 12pm - they took the details of what I was having done and called me yesterday to confirm the appointment. All good.
This morning I go to have blood taken, and the lovely lady at QML advises that I should have the bloods taken a few days before the ultrasound. This was no big deal, I called the radiology place and to change my appointment to Monday and they advise that they actually don't have a sonographer that can carry out the nuchal screening. Uggggh....AND that it's best done between 11 and 13 weeks.
Phoned my GP - and it's his bloody day off!!
For the love of all that is chocolate....can these people get accurate information for me? I don't know which is correct!!!
Any advice girls?
when i had it done i was told the best times are for bloods at 10-11 weeks and scan at 11 weeks 5 days to 13 weeks... or something like that. I def had to have the bloods a few days before the scan as they combine the results to give your ratios.
Hi Princess
The 4 viles they took at the start of the pregnancy was to check for things such as immunity to rubella, hiv, hepatitis, iron levels etc.
As far as I'm aware they're 2 seperate tests.
Hi Ladies,
adkins_81, yes you are correct.
The 4 vials at the start of your pregnancy check all your iron levels, glucose, syphillis, HIV, Rhesis antibodies etc. The nuchal translucency test is an elective test carried out at around 10 - 13 weeks. They measure a skin fold in your baby's neck by ultrasound and combine (if wanted) with a blood test to provide an estimated risk factor of your child being born with Down Syndrome. You can choose to have only ultrasound, combine with blood test (for apparently a more accurate result) or not have it at all.
Your Dr will explain to you about the test. I chose to do it and was extremely glad I did, although... if the risk had been high, I don't think it would have changed anything!
Good luck to you all!
Cheers!
Amanda :bellygrowing:
Linz - i think sometimes they dont offer it to you if you are under, say, 30 as you are pretty low risk. But you can ask for it around 10 weeks to have it at 12 weeks, it is elective.
Mrsr - I think you will find that every testing place is slightly different.
With Shelby I was only given the scan at 12w1d at a private place, (her nuchal fold measured 1.6mm), so they didn't offer the blood test (I was 29) Chromosomally normal.
With Max I had the blood test done at 10w and the scan at 12w3d at a public hospital, her nuchal fold was 1.7mm, I had the blood test done and my risk increased once combined with the scan (I was 30) Triploidy
With this baby, I went to the top womens and infant hospital that specialise in fetal medicine. I had the scan and bloods taken on the same day 12w6d.
All three tests were carried out in Perth, so even in the same state it can vary.
I think you will be fine keeping to your original appointment, as long as you are at least 11 w by then (and sure of your dates)
I'm totally confused as my GP showed me 3 periods of time displayed in a table during which the test can be done and it stated it is most accurate during the 10th week. The lady who took my blood simply told me I should have the blood taken a few days prior to the scan...then the radiography place told me I should have it done between 11-13 weeks.
I guess the thing that peeves me the most is taking a day off work to get this done only to be told I CAN'T after having booked the scan....got to spend the day with DH so it wasn't all bad!! :)
Arrrrggggghhhh!!!!
*still going nuts*
I chose not to test for downs with Jesse. Just because my BIL's sister tested with her kids and 2 of them came back extremely high. So she then stressed and worried the whole pregnancy and they were born fine. Im the type who stresses alot also so yeh i thought it be best i didnt.
So do remember even though you may perhaps possibly be given a high risk, everything could be just fine :)
MrsR- Test is usually done around 12weeks or so Bloods should be done around a few days b4 or after scan. Mine came back 1:49 so we chose to have a CVS done unfortunalty DD was not behaving that day so we ended up having an Amino Done and eveything came back fine. Good Luck.
I just got my results back today...
Based on my age it was 1:1400
Based on my age, ultrasound and blood test it came back at 1 in 9999, the lowest possible risk you can have, I'm so happy!!
Mrsr I am sorry you have been given the run around so much.
As Clare said every place will have it's own thing.
However, I know that fetal med obs prefer the bloods to be taken as closely as possible to the u/s day. This statistically is more accurate. The bloods are measuring Free HCG and Papp-A - a high hcg and a low Papp-A indicate there could be issues but remembering this is a screening test. only 1 out of 20 women with a high risk will have a baby with a chromososmal difficulty.
I would disagree with the GP about having the bloods done at 10 weeks - follow the guidelines of the place you are going to - they know far more about it than GP's in my experience.
Good luck with it all... :hug: