Screen Negative blood test

[wintergirl]

Hi, did anyone else do the blood screening test and get a screen negative for Downs & Trisomy 13/18? If so, are you still going to do an amnio? I had been planning on having an amnio because I had assumed I'd get a screen positive based on my age alone from what I've been told (I'll be 39 at due date), so I was really surprised when I got a "screen negative" letter in the mail today from Kaiser where it says they don't usually do any further testing. Now I don't know if I should still ask for an amnio or not...??? I also had a normal NT scan 2 weeks ago.

Kaiser's genetics class taught me that 87% of all chromosomal probs are caught by the screening tests but the only way to be 100% sure is to have the amnio. Should I still try to have it?

[BC-GoMom]

You know- go with your gut.... I never had any of the screening b/c all 3 of my pgs ere over 35 and I knew they would come back.... I opted for the level 2 u/s (now a level 3) and since everthing looked good there.... I didn't want an amnio.

My thinking also is that even if the baby tests genetically perfect- that doesn't always mean perfect.- many problems are not related to genetics... so there is nothing that will tell you 100% that your child will be healthy...

There are planty of ladies that do the amnio or cvs... they needed to know the genetic info...

BTW_ My dh is 10 yrs older than me too! We had our last baby 2 weeks after his 50th!

[1stN44]

Hi Wintergirl:

I am 45 now and 26 weeks. I had the first (bloodwork/nt scan) and second trimester screen (bloodwork). Both came out great and that is all I had planned to do.

In my situation, the result wouldn't have changed my pregnancy, but I wanted to understand if there was anything that we needed to be prepared for and that was non - invasive.

I also looked at the risks vs the benefits. The risk of miscarriage, infection, etc. outweighed whatever would be the outcome of further testing.

Those are my thought, best of luck with you and your baby!

Lauri

[Vicki41]

Hi Wintergirl,

We decided not to do the bloodwork screen/quad test. We opted for the amnio directly because of what you said about only the amnio is 100% for downs/edwards/patau. A normal amnio is not a guarentee of a normal baby. For us it was a straight forward decision because we would have terminated if the amnio was postive, so we wanted the most accurate information.

Any invasion procedure carries risks. And talking it over with your partner about what you would do with the results is a must. Why get an invasive procedure if you know you will keep the baby no matter what?

It is a hard decision. Good luck. -vicki