Spina Bifida/Downs test

[suz24]

Hi all

I'm 17 weeks pregnant at the moment and have declined to have the spina bifida/downs blood test. My reason being is that I can't see myself aborting my child and I have also heard of a lot of false positives and people who have spent months worrying and their baby has been fine.

I told my local midwife and she seemed fine with my decision but my hospital midwife and consultant looked at me as if i was crazy!

Has anyone got stories to share on this topic? I'm confused now and wonder if I should get it done.

 

[mary70]

i didnt have it done with my son but did with my daughter i never got any reaction either way to be honest

 

[LisaJ1986]

I had it, but mainly due to how my OH is with this kind of thing!

 

[tallulah73]

I had it done thinking everything would be fine, me and OH are both fit and healthy with no family histories of abnormalities.
I got a call from the hospital a week later telling me i was high risk - 1:80 !
Our life was on hold and absolute hell for 3 weeks while i had an amnio and waited by the phone for the results. The test results came back as 'chromosome normal male' which means our LO is normal & healthy and a boy.

Personally i would have the test again if we decide to have another baby even though it was the worst 3 weeks of my life just for the peace of mind.
Me and OH said from the start if there was anything at all wrong with our LO that we would abort.

 

[hennaly]

I had the nucal scan as i have a sister with spina bifida so wanted to make sure i knew where we sttod, everything points to low risk for us on the scan so fingers crossed, we didnt have the amnio test though as went with what the scan told us.

 

[Fluffy Bunny]

Hi

I didn't have the triple test with either of my pregnancies because it only gives an indication, for definate results you would have to go on and have an amnio which carries a risk of miscarriage. I figured i) I wouldn't have the amnio so no point in having the bloods really and ii) I wouldn't terminate if the tests came back positive anyway

Like I say, its personal choice but you don't have to say yes to everything and don't worry about being given funny looks by other people about your decisions (professional or otherwise) - you'll get them throughout your pregnancy and into bringing up babba. EVERYONE thinks their way is best!!

 

[noodle1]

Hi Suz

I have also told my midwife I want nothing to do with the downs testing, she understood though.

I had the nuchal scan and blood tests with Tom and they told me I had a 1 in 5 risk, also had to have a CVS which was not nice at all. Months and months of scans (that was a good thing tho ), them telling me he must have a heart defect and lots of worrying.

After all the caffuffle of them telling me there must be something wrong with him simply due to the 1 in 5 he turned out just fine

I think that if it's not going to affect whether you keep this baby or not then the only reason would be to prepare yourselves for it. Personally I'll take my chances .

 

[nissa]

I had the test but just agreed to it on the day without really thinking about it. Afterwards I worried alot about the worry a high risk can cause and I wish I'd never had it done.

In the end the results arrived as low risk but I don't think I would bother getting it done if I ever have another.

 

[nori]

I declined the test aswell. I didnt really see the point as if i did come back high risk i wouldnt have the amnio and even if it did show signs of downs i wouldnt have aborted.

Very personal choice though.. no right or wrong..

Claire x

 

[jennifer1981]

I had the test but only because i thoguht that if my baby did have something like spina bifida or downs i would rather prepare myself for that fact

 

[claire_louise]

theres no right or wrong. and i wouldnt have thought they should have looked at you like that!!

i had it done because i misunderstood, it seemed to me from what mw and sonographer and nurse said it was a routine thing to do. i have to say at no point did i worry about the test results coming back high, because i knew i'd keep my baby anyway. My half uncle has downs syndrome so i figured i'd rather just be prepared.

 

[Squiglet]

I had the tests done. They can show up if your baby has other issues for me this was Edwards Syndrome, which is what my sister died of. If my babies are ever diagnosed with that, then knew I would terminate because all babies die from this and I saw the trama my sisters death put my family through (they didn't have test 25 years ago) , knew I couldn't do that again.

Both my brother and sister have Downs, so I would like to know if any baby I had had Downs, just because there are lots of things, equipment, help you can put in place before your LO arrives. So its more to know what I'm facing than to choose to terminate in those cases... and as for Spina bifida... most children born with it are 100% normal and are only physically disabled, so theres no probs there But I'd need to move house for example because we live in an apartment block that doesn't have a lift.

Its more so I can put things in place to make life easier... but thats my choice I like to know as much as possible before hand.

 

[Bee]

I declined the test aswell. I didnt really see the point as if i did come back high risk i wouldnt have the amnio and even if it did show signs of downs i wouldnt have aborted.

Very personal choice though.. no right or wrong..

Claire x

exactly the same reason as Claire. Plus my midwife booking appointment was late on cos of my hospital peeing about and by the time I would have had the test and got the results I would have been over 24 weeks and imo thats too late on to abort.

I didn't get any reaction to not having the test. Its a personal choice and they can't and shouldn't judge you

 

[trixipaws]

some folk say they dont bother with the test because they wouldnt abort regardless of whether the baby is disabled,

some say they wouldnt abort either but want to know so they can prepare

others tae the test so they can make a choice if they find the baby is disabled

ur choice honey

 

[suz24]

Thanks for the advice everyone - it has helped put my mind at rest as they really freaked me out yesterday with their reaction. Hardly slept last night.

I know that sometimes they can tell from the scan if your baby has abnormalities. Regardless of your choice whether to have the test or not - should they tell you if anything is detected in a normal scan and if they have suspicions? I'm beginning to wonder that maybe they know something that i don't and hence why they think it strange that I don't want the test.

 

[daftscotslass]

I was too late to have the test but they spent a bit longer on the scan as a result and everything (as far as they could see anyway) was fine. I'm not sure if I would go on to have the test if I have another. The midwife who did my booking appointment (before they found out how far on I was!) was very supportive and basically said in the end the decision was mine. She did say that almost all the "high risk" results after amnio/CV etc come back as normal and it can cause a lot of unnecessary heartache during the wait. On the other hand like Squig I'd like to know to be prepared.

Don't suppose that was much help but it's poor on their part that they are not supporting you