NT T18/13 etc test ? long

kenyakeetah

I'm from Canada so some things are differnt then what most of you are doing in America, so if your Canadian please add your two cents and if not I would still like to know what you think.

After talking to my dr and finding out the our MSP doesnt cover the NT scan but does do the blood test but is optional and a whole bunch of information was given to me about it. After going home and thinking about it I am unsure weather I really want to take the test and know or not.

Reasons for and against are

1: If i take the first test I dont get results until after the second blood test at around 20 weeks where they will tell me my risks however at 20 weeks we have an in deapth scan that also checks the NT from what I remember so is it better to have both?

2: its common to get false positives so do I want to give my self un needed stress which in turn can halm the baby?

3: either way we will keep the baby so the results wont change that

4: knowing at least helps us be prepared for the forth coming of a special needs child

5: if we get a positive the next step is amnio (sp) which can cause mc but I know I wont take that test to confirm so am I simply wasting time and un needed stress as well as government money just to find out something that wont change our outcome but simply prepare us.....

so now im on the fence im thinking over all it may be best not to know and now I have a headache anyway any thoughts or experiences from anyone with a positive that really helped them prepare or with false positives that simply stressed you out and caused complications or those that got negatives and are happy to know so they dont have to worry about it any more.

All thoughts would be great

Thank you

Pockety

Are you high risk?

Not sure of your age, etc., but my doctor told me, for example, that since I'm 28 and have no family history of Down's Syndrome (on either side), my risk of having a baby with Down's is about 1-in-900.

She said if I have the NT scan and blood test and everything looks good, then my risk of having a baby with Down's drops to 1-in-10,000.

It's all a probability game anyway; there are no guarantees.  (Maybe there are with amnio, but not with the NT scan and corresponding bloodwork.)   

kenyakeetah

I was told the same im 27 so low risk with no history

gymnst1013

I'm not Canadian but I wanted to respond with some food for thought:

kenyakeetah:

I'm from Canada so some things are differnt then what most of you are doing in America, so if your Canadian please add your two cents and if not I would still like to know what you think.

After talking to my dr and finding out the our MSP doesnt cover the NT scan but does do the blood test but is optional and a whole bunch of information was given to me about it. After going home and thinking about it I am unsure weather I really want to take the test and know or not.

Reasons for and against are

1: If i take the first test I dont get results until after the second blood test at around 20 weeks where they will tell me my risks however at 20 weeks we have an in deapth scan that also checks the NT from what I remember so is it better to have both?

2: its common to get false positives so do I want to give my self un needed stress which in turn can halm the baby? The NT scan ad associated b/w does not give "false positives".  Those tests are not diagnostic.  They just give odds ie: 1:200 risk of T-18, 1:4 risk of downs, etc.  The only way you could have a true false positive is if you got a 1:1 risk (so 100% chance) and the baby turned out fine.  I've never heard of anyone ever receiving a 1:1 risk.  And the other risks are not a, for example, 1:4 chance of the baby having downs.  It's that you are at a higher risk for being that 1 in 4 person that has a downs child.  So really even lower than 25% chance of the baby having downs.

3: either way we will keep the baby so the results wont change that There are certain conditions that can be found with the 1st tri screening are incompatible with life.  Not to be harsh, but you can't say you will keep the baby regardless of results until you are in the situation where your baby has an incompatible with life defect.  You may have a completely different mindset if presented with the decision then.  I truly hope it doesn't come to that and it in all likelihood won't.

4: knowing at least helps us be prepared for the forth coming of a special needs child

5: if we get a positive the next step is amnio (sp) which can cause mc but I know I wont take that test to confirm so am I simply wasting time and un needed stress as well as government money just to find out something that wont change our outcome but simply prepare us..... The risk of m/c with either CVS ro amnio these days is generally very small.  Check with the facility that would be doing yours, but at mine it was 1:1000 chance of m/c with both procedures.  If the risk of a defect for us had been greater than the risk of m/c, we would have more seriously considered having CVS or amnio done.

so now im on the fence im thinking over all it may be best not to know and now I have a headache anyway any thoughts or experiences from anyone with a positive that really helped them prepare or with false positives that simply stressed you out and caused complications or those that got negatives and are happy to know so they dont have to worry about it any more.

All thoughts would be great

Thank you

kenyakeetah

gymnst1013:

I'm not Canadian but I wanted to respond with some food for thought:

kenyakeetah:

I'm from Canada so some things are differnt then what most of you are doing in America, so if your Canadian please add your two cents and if not I would still like to know what you think.

After talking to my dr and finding out the our MSP doesnt cover the NT scan but does do the blood test but is optional and a whole bunch of information was given to me about it. After going home and thinking about it I am unsure weather I really want to take the test and know or not.

Reasons for and against are

1: If i take the first test I dont get results until after the second blood test at around 20 weeks where they will tell me my risks however at 20 weeks we have an in deapth scan that also checks the NT from what I remember so is it better to have both?

2: its common to get false positives so do I want to give my self un needed stress which in turn can halm the baby? The NT scan ad associated b/w does not give "false positives".  Those tests are not diagnostic.  They just give odds ie: 1:200 risk of T-18, 1:4 risk of downs, etc.  The only way you could have a true false positive is if you got a 1:1 risk (so 100% chance) and the baby turned out fine.  I've never heard of anyone ever receiving a 1:1 risk.  And the other risks are not a, for example, 1:4 chance of the baby having downs.  It's that you are at a higher risk for being that 1 in 4 person that has a downs child.  So really even lower than 25% chance of the baby having downs.

3: either way we will keep the baby so the results wont change that There are certain conditions that can be found with the 1st tri screening are incompatible with life.  Not to be harsh, but you can't say you will keep the baby regardless of results until you are in the situation where your baby has an incompatible with life defect.  You may have a completely different mindset if presented with the decision then.  I truly hope it doesn't come to that and it in all likelihood won't.

4: knowing at least helps us be prepared for the forth coming of a special needs child

5: if we get a positive the next step is amnio (sp) which can cause mc but I know I wont take that test to confirm so am I simply wasting time and un needed stress as well as government money just to find out something that wont change our outcome but simply prepare us..... The risk of m/c with either CVS ro amnio these days is generally very small.  Check with the facility that would be doing yours, but at mine it was 1:1000 chance of m/c with both procedures.  If the risk of a defect for us had been greater than the risk of m/c, we would have more seriously considered having CVS or amnio done.

so now im on the fence im thinking over all it may be best not to know and now I have a headache anyway any thoughts or experiences from anyone with a positive that really helped them prepare or with false positives that simply stressed you out and caused complications or those that got negatives and are happy to know so they dont have to worry about it any more.

All thoughts would be great

Thank you

 

Thank you for your response it will help in deciding what we are going to do,