Do most people do 1st & 2nd tri screening?

HisBetterHalf

I opted out of all of it.  When I went for my big u/s on Tues, the tech was surprised that I hadn't had any of it done.  she said that most people do it, at least one of them.

What did you do?

Phelia325

2 reasons:

1. i needed to know and be prepared

2. i wanted to see the baby again on the u/s

RichInLove

We didn't to 1st tri screening, only 2nd tri, mostly b/c it was paid for by our insurance and I thought "why not?"

AlliVe

i also opted out.  I was a teacher for individuals with special needs and I feel prepared for what ever may come my way.  I was happy to see everything looked good at my 20 week though

MegDC

Phelia325:

2 reasons:

1. i needed to know and be prepared

2. i wanted to see the baby again on the u/s

Same here. ?I did both. ?The second tri is just an additional blood test that refines the first tri ratios and adds spina bifida testing.?

queenjohnston

we opted out of all.

lovebook

I didn't have the 1st tri screening done and I'm pretty sure I just opted out (MW appt. yesterday) of the 2nd tri screening.

Reasons to not:

- it wouldn't change anything regarding whether or not we continue with the pregnancy

- there's not much they can do to correct anything in-womb so I will accept any challenges I may face when the baby arrives

- my belief that God will not give me more than I can handle

angelgee

I did. I'm due for my 2nd screening this month. We wanted to know and be prepared as well.

Kaar17

We didn't do anything. If it was covered by insurance, then we would have.

Roothie427

I opted out of all this too

brandistrionfo@gmail.com

I did it all.

Mainly because I wanted to be prepared, and since I'm in the military, it was free.

librarianlisa

We can't afford anything not covered by insurance, so we've done nothing extra. We lucked out and had an early U/S just because the doc wanted to date the pregnancy, but other than that it's been pretty straightforward checkups. By screenings, what exactly do you mean? The only things we've been offered that we've turned down are a myriad of genetic tests. Insurance won't pay for any of it.

babesnyder

Phelia325:

2 reasons:

1. i needed to know and be prepared

2. i wanted to see the baby again on the u/s

Ditto

Mandy Ellsworth

I opted out.  The results didn't matter to me either way, plus I get so many ultrasounds with them being twins.  I see my boys all the time.

TwinCitiesGirl

We just did the blood test in 2nd tri.  It was covered by insurance, so we thought why not.  I will under pretty much no circumstances have an amniocentisis done, though, regardless of how the blood test comes back.  I have a genetic disease in my family and wanted to find out if I carried the gene.

librarianlisa

librarianlisa:

We can't afford anything not covered by insurance, so we've done nothing extra. We lucked out and had an early U/S just because the doc wanted to date the pregnancy, but other than that it's been pretty straightforward checkups. By screenings, what exactly do you mean? The only things we've been offered that we've turned down are a myriad of genetic tests. Insurance won't pay for any of it.

Okay, I'm guessing from other responses we are, in fact, talking about genetic testing. So no. We opted out for the same reasons already mentioned. If insurance would have covered it, I would have considered it just to be able to prepare myself. But my doc and nurse both told me that these tests yield a high number of false positives that wind up getting everyone worked up for nothing. So I guess, in a way, it's a blessing that insurance won't cover it for me.

christiney06

Phelia325:

2 reasons:

1. i needed to know and be prepared

2. i wanted to see the baby again on the u/s

 

ditto on both counts.  I would freak if I had gone thru labor and then my baby was taken away for hours b/c of a problem I had no idea about.  Better to be prepared IMO. 

Jess8202

I did 1st and still have to do 2nd, My doctor pretty much told me too..

flutiefrostie

We opted out because we didn't want to have an amnio or CVS done. Plus, we'd keep the baby no matter what so we decided that a positive that might be false would just be too much stress.

tnmaybride04

lovebook:

I didn't have the 1st tri screening done and I'm pretty sure I just opted out (MW appt. yesterday) of the 2nd tri screening.

Reasons to not:

- it wouldn't change anything regarding whether or not we continue with the pregnancy

- there's not much they can do to correct anything in-womb so I will accept any challenges I may face when the baby arrives

- my belief that God will not give me more than I can handle

 

Same for us.  Plus, I know 3 people who had false positives and I knew that would make me worry more when I would not have done the amnio or CVS testing anyway due to the addtional risks. 

Donny-stfu

I did it, not because I would have changed my mind if everything didn't come out ok (It would have to be VERY severe for me to even THINK about that), but so that we could be better prepared to deal with whatever was going on.

britti<3

We did everything. I like to prepared and have my options open depending on what the circumstance is.

jtimestwo

Phelia325:

2 reasons:

1. i needed to know and be prepared

2. i wanted to see the baby again on the u/s

Ditto. Plus, at my doctor's office, it's pretty much the norm unless you specifically don't want it.

MegDC

QUESTION: ?Since the tests give you ratios, rather than a positive or negative reults, where are the "false positives" coming from? ?When I talked to my doctor she gave the accuracy rate for each type of test and explained that some are more accurate than others. ?I'm confused.

velvetflip

I did every test that was offered to me including amniocentesis because of my age. ?I think it's smart to be informed, but totally up to the individual. ?Many people opt not to do any extra testing, but I wanted to be as informed as possible.

?

txbabs111

MegDC:

QUESTION:  Since the tests give you ratios, rather than a positive or negative reults, where are the "false positives" coming from?  When I talked to my doctor she gave the accuracy rate for each type of test and explained that some are more accurate than others.  I'm confused.

This has always confused me as well, since it is a screening test, rather than diagnostic.

We got the first tri screening for mostly the same reasons others listed: being prepared, another u/s and it was covered by insurance.

Jen748

MegDC:

Phelia325:

2 reasons:

1. i needed to know and be prepared

2. i wanted to see the baby again on the u/s

Same here.  I did both.  The second tri is just an additional blood test that refines the first tri ratios and adds spina bifida testing. 

 

Ditto!

Bellisimo

I chose to have the AFP done with both pregnancies because I'm a control freak with regards to stuff like preparing for the new baby and because I'm on seizure medication and am considered "high risk" to begin with.  I have level II u/s with Perinatologists to screen for birth defects for that reason...so the AFP is just an extra precautionary measure that I choose to take for my own peace of mind.

jen_and_scott

No to both.

Most major problems can be detected at the big u/s, and I didn't want the worry of extra tests and possible false positive results!

MarriedBestFriends

Both. And lots of genetic testing (Jewish panel including CF). Knowledge is power and I firmly believe that the more you know, the better prepared you can be for any situation that you choose to cotinue to take on.

hawindrem

None here.

TimsMayBride

flutiefrostie:

We opted out because we didn't want to have an amnio or CVS done. Plus, we'd keep the baby no matter what so we decided that a positive that might be false would just be too much stress.

Same here - not prepared to do the amnio/CVS.

Lulu0802

We didn't do any of the screening tests. ?Every time we go to the doctor they ask about our tests and when I tell them we opted out, they seem a little surprised. ?But I just didn't see the point in wasting the time and money when it really wasn't necessary. ?

MrsG.060708

We aren't going to do any screening either.

AshDoc

With #1, no.  With this one, yes.  We weren't going to, but the doctors told us it would help them to be prepared after the delivery if there was a problem.  We knew that if the tests came back positive, we wouldn't have done anything further than those tests, though.