Ultrascreen Evaluation During Pregnancy

[summerrluvv]

My doctor referred me to another doctor for this test that is done during the 1st trimester. She said it's optional, but was required to tell me about it. I understand it screens for Down's Syndrome and Trisomy 18, but if the results came back abnormal, there isn't a treatment for it during pregnancy, and I wouldn't terminate, so is there another reason to get this done? I guess I wouldn't want to know because I would be thinking about it the rest of the pregnancy. Does anyone else think the way I do? Or am I just being weird?

 

[Annette_VA]

I had it with both of my boys and 'failed' it both times. I had to have level 2 ultrasounds done w/ a maternal fetal medicine specialist. If the u/s didn't rule out Downs, I was to have an amnio. Luckily, the u/s ruled out any problems both times.

I chose to have it done because if something was wrong, I wanted to have as much time as possible to prepare and educate myself.

The bonus was, I got to find out the sex early both times

 

[JVL1018]

A lot of women choose not to get this, because like you, they feel they won't terminate so why bother..and there is also a pretty good amount of false positives with this test.

I personally got it because I knew myself, instead of assuming everything was fine, I would drive myself crazy assuming that I had a child who had Downs Syndrome.

My neighbor had a baby boy and he had Downs, she had no idea, nothing ever showed up while she was pregnant, and let me tell you that was NOT an easy time for her and her family to be blindsided by that.
I think things would have been better for her if she were prepared, and that's how I know I would feel too.
But everyone is different, so go with your gut.

 

[bengalbelle]

With my first pregnancy my doctor asked me if I would abort if there was something wrong with the baby. I said no and he suggested I not take the test because I might worry needlessly. It has a high rate of false positives.

I decided against it with my second pregnancy for the same reason.

FWIW, he and his wife decided not to have it with either of their children.

ETA: I had to go to Maternal Fetal Medicine with my first pregnancy, and they pretty much assured me the baby was fine.

With my second pregnancy I had lots of ultrasounds and the tech told me she didn't see any markers. I still wondered, but I don't think it was the same type of worry.

 

[lil mermaid]

deleted

 

[Annette_VA]

I chose to have the Ultrascreen done because it doesn't have the false "postive" rate of the quad screen done in the second trimester (actually, I am wondering if some on this thread are confusing the two screening tests?) ....

Sorry - yep, that would be me. With my 1st DS, it was called the AFP or Triple screen. With the 2nd, Quad screen. Both assessed my risk of having a child w/ Downs or spina bifida. Since it seems the name of the test seems to change every few years, I just assumed Ultrascreen was a new name...

 

[lil mermaid]

Sorry - yep, that would be me. With my 1st DS, it was called the AFP or Triple screen. With the 2nd, Quad screen. Both assessed my risk of having a child w/ Downs or spina bifida. Since it seems the name of the test seems to change every few years, I just assumed Ultrascreen was a new name...

I thought it was possible! The ultrascreen is a relatively new test, and not available everywhere yet. They do an ultrasound where they measure the thickness at the back of the baby's neck (as a thickness over a certain amount can be a marker.) They then combine this with bloodwork, and factor in your age, to give you a result. Sometimes this test is referred to as a nuchal translucency scan. They say it can detect up to 90% of the Down syndrome cases and up to 97% of the cases of Trisomyt 13 and 18. For someone like me, who is older but doesn't want to go right to amnio, it is a GREAT test.

The test does NOT screen for the neural tube defects like spina bifida, so in a couple of weeks I will have JUST the AFP portion of the quad screen done to screen for that . Of course, I am sweating out getting a false positive on that.

 

[summerrluvv]

Thanks for the replies everyone!! I did end up finding some more information over on the babyzone boards and a lot of those folks did say the test produces false positives a lot. I talked to a friend who had a friend that had it done and she got a false positive, but everything turned out okay.

I'm 29, so I don't think I'm at high risk for a baby with Down's, so I'm just going to stop thinking about it for now and whatever happens, happens!

 

[AKLRULZ]

My wife also declined this test all three times she was pregnant.

 

[minkydog]

I think it depends on your tolerance for surprises. When I was pregnant I knew there was nothing that would induce me to have an abortion--nothing. I didn't want to worry about what might be wrong with the baby. I do much better dealing with problems as they appear. So I refused all that testing. I did go on to have a child with chormosomal defect that would have been picked up on amnio. Oh well. We deal with it. I have never regretted "not knowing".