If you’re pregnant and over the age of 35, a new test called Early Screening is now available to help ease any concerns you may have concerning your baby’s risks of being born with a birth defect. Although the test is designed for all pregnant women it is especially useful for the mid-life mom.
As you know by now, mid-life moms have a greater risk of giving birth to a child with a birth defect and often doctors recommend genetic testing to determine a pregnant woman’s risk. When I was pregnant I took the first phase of tests but stopped short of having an amniocentesis. After I weighed the risks of my having a miscarriage, I decided it wasn’t worth it for me personally and thankfully I delivered a healthy baby boy.
This new test can be done anywhere between 11 and 14 weeks of pregnancy which is several weeks early than most sonograms. During the test, a doctor positions a sensor called a transducer over the mother’s stomach so that the fetus shows up on a monitor and measurements of the thickness of the nuchal fold can be taken. The nuchal fold is a fluid-filled area near the back of the baby’s neck. The thicker the fluid space, the greater the greater the risk that the baby has a birth defect.
The doctors put the measurements into a mathematical formula using the baby and the mother’s ages. Doctor’s report that about 80% of babies that have Down syndrome and half of babies with heart defects have thicker than normal fluid layers. Doctor’s are also able to see a bright line underneath the skin which as it turns out is the nasal bone. They have found that in about 70% of babies that have Down syndrome the nasal bone will be missing at this stage. Early Screening is painless and the results are available in about 10 days.
See also:
Why I Refused To Have An Amniocentesis
Prenatal Testing: Amniocentesis