Downs blood test - in two minds???

[Danielle77]

Hi - just afte r peoples thoughts/experiences.

We've declined the blood test for downs screening at 16 weeks as Ive heard it's not that reliable. Also, if it was high risk and they offered the amni test - thats high risk of miscarrigae isnt it?

There's no Downs in my family and I'm 25. Just wondering if anybody had test and what results said or anyone who has any figures? So confused

 

[hugsy]

Oh I never heard that about it being unreliable, Im 31 and mine came back as 1 in 41000 but i think everyone is different depending on there own dna ect so dont think other peoples age/results could be any indication of your own risk, if that makes sense but from what I know the younger you are the lower the risk anyway I think,

Might be best to speak to the MW about it as they should have more accurate stats

 

[Danielle77]

Thanks for the advice. Yeh, Ive heard alsorts of stories! My friend from work's sister got told she was 'high risk' so she prepared for a downs child and her baby wasnt downs. Then on the other hand, the same woman's sister in law was told 'low risk' and had a downs baby! So I think it may just be easier if I leave the blood test or I'll go insane!

 

[Danielle77]

oooh, also - how long did it take for you to get your results?

 

[hugsy]

Yeah I think they are never 100% thats why they say risk rather than will be or wont be but I just wanted to know what my risk was, Even being one of the lowest risk results Iv seen I could still have a downs baby you just dont know with these things,

I had my restults back very quick I was shocked, Had the blood tests on the Tuesday and got the letter on the Saturday

 

[x_larlybelle_x]

I'm also 25 with no history of ds. We had the test as it is routine in my area. Came back as low risk. Took a week to get the results. Xx

 

[1986princess]

I'm 25 and pg with twins with no history in family. Mine was 1 in 39000 and classed as low risk. So no need for furthur testing x

 

[Danielle77]

Thnks ladies, it's routine in my area aswell - unless you decline. (which i did). My OH would like me to have the blood test. I may just have it - just so scared?! Silly really I know. All these decisions are driving me mad! x

 

[JensBump]

I declined and it is routine in my area - we just decided that if the baby did have the condition we wouldn't do anything about it anyway so better to wait and see - I wouldn't have wanted the needle test so I knew there was no point in getting the bloods done - all depends on what you would do if baby were high risk or do you simply want to know so you can mentally prepare yourself.

 

[Lulabell]

I'm 25 and no history of downs in mine or hubby's family. I got low risk 1:39400ish. I got my results a few days later by phone but only bcos my bloods showed I was possibly not immune to chicken pox. Further testing showed I am immune. I got a letter confirming results about week n half to two weeks after blood test.

Results are fairly accurate but never 100%. It's up to you if you want blood tests or not Hun. My mate didn't as she felt it wouldn't change anything for her.xx

 

[x_larlybelle_x]

Im glad I had the testing done. If it had have come back that Pip was high risk, I wouldn't have done anythin about it other than able to prepare myself mentally for what Pip would need when s/he is born.

 

[sarahdilan]

I know my results came bk low risk. Had it done as i'm 34. Results didn't really matter to us. It was mainly so if it was high risk or definite diagnosis we'd be able to we'd be able to prepare, read up and gather advice.

 

[Franna75]

im 36, had mine and it came back low risk a few days later. Then at about 20 weeks I found the letter again and realised that i hadnt read the back which gave the break down. I was given 1:400 - i came on here and asked a few friends what theirs had been and got the 39000 etc...it still didn't bother me though. I would be lying if I said it wasn't at the back of my mind, but so were loads of other things. My friend had the test and it came back 1:2 and the fluid at the back of the neck was majorly high. Both our babies were born without DS.

I know this doesn't help but basically you get a beautiful baby regardless of results, try not to worry.

 

[l_maclean]

From what I remember from my genetics studies at uni - for the vast majority of Down's cases - family history is irrelevant. You're risk as a younger mother is lower though.

In my area you have the blood test - which gives you a high or low risk. If it comes back as high risk you then make the decision about if you want further testing such as CVS or amniocentisis for a more accurate results.

For some people having this information gives them the oppertunity to be prepared. Thats the reason I went with screening. It wouldnt have made any difference to me - but DH has no experience with kids at all, and i felt that he'd definitely need time to process that kind of information.

Ours came back as low risk - although at 1 in 2000 i found it difficult not to compare it with the ladies on here who have 1 in 40000 results.

xxx

 

[JJ Mum]

It's a tricky one this, I had no extra testing with my first three kids when I was 24,26 and 27, and so don't know what risk I would have been. This baby I was 37 at the time, and so I decided to have testing. I got a 1 in 9 risk back from combined Nuchal and bloods at 13 weeks scan. Neck was fine but had markers in my bloods plus I was older, so I now put this down to my 11 week missed MC that I had the month before I felll pregnant again - I think there must have been a chromozonal issue with baby.

I know this can cause issues with other peoples feelings being strong on this, but my OH and I had decided that for us, we would have taken steps if baby had downs or the other far worse ones, pascals etc . We based most of this on our age and our exsiting 3 kids, and the worry of responsiblity automatically passing to them.

Some would like to know to prepare before birth if they have a baby with downs, but the getting a high risk , does mean you then have to decide again about amnio or CVS if before 14 weeks at the time, or have that risk in your head for the remainder of pregnancy, so it really does depend what you would do if you got high risk, test further or not. If not, then may be best not to have the test as it takes the worry away. With the amnio or cvs there are risks of MC , but small, do ask them for details tho.

Devon was totally fine in the end, it is a just a risk , not an actual until the further testing.

 

[Pickledonions]

I declined and it is routine in my area - we just decided that if the baby did have the condition we wouldn't do anything about it anyway so better to wait and see - I wouldn't have wanted the needle test so I knew there was no point in getting the bloods done - all depends on what you would do if baby were high risk or do you simply want to know so you can mentally prepare yourself.

Same here

 

[redbear]

We decided to turn down the test and its routine here too, I know everyone has different views but my personal view was the baby is in my belly and will be born however he/she is suppost to be, Im not religious or anything but i was in the mind set that by the time i had the test and found out it would be too late i wouldnt get an abortion because i had already set my mind on this baby is here and im not going to change that... Luckly my OH agreed infact more strongly than me that if the baby was DS it wouldn't matter to us and we didnt want the extra stress of knowing before hand, i would rather worry when it actually happens (i.e when its born) xx

 

[angelmma]

We dont get it routinely, we have to phone and book it, I chose not to as I dont believe in abortion (although I dont judge anyone that does) so even if it did have DS it wouldnt have made a difference. I also know of 2 people and one was told her bloods and the fluid around the baby showed that it was most likely Downs and it came out perfectly healthy. Another was told her baby was going to be severly disabled and most likely would be stillborn, the couple decided to 'leave it in gods hands' as they say, and the baby was also born perfectly healthy. I do understand why some people wanna know, as it gives them time to research and stuff, but you never know the tests could be wrong xxxx

 

[Cazza]

I had the combined test done as being 41 & high BMI makes a big difference. Our test came back as low risk 1:10079.

DS would not have made us feel any different about the baby but certainly other issues would have had us worried and concerned for the future.

We had the test done so we could be prepared and research if required but everyone is different!

 

[TashaWink]

I had the blood test done-but i still haven't found out my results! Obviously i'm really not bothered as i haven't actually even tried to find out the score!