not sure about the amnio

Starfish02807 · June 2012

I am thinking of having the amnio? Does it hurt? My doctor says the odds of having a downs syndrome baby are greater then the odd of having a miscarriage as a result of the amnio? thoughts? I think I will be bale to relax a little in this pregnancy if I have one, I am 40.

3rdat40 · June 2012

It's totally a personal choice, but I am opting not to get one. I agree with your doctor about the odds, but if my baby has Downs or other chromosomal issue, we're keeping him/her anyway, so I guess I'd rather go through pregnancy assuming the best.

Good luck with your decision!

kirac · June 2012

The odds of having a miscarriage after amnio also depend on the skill of the doctor doing the test so I would ask their track record. If you get a skilled dr, the odds are very low. I'm doing amnio because it's less risky then CVS.

leffe1 · June 2012

Hi, I had the amnio only after the bloodwork results for my NT showed a 1:41 odds of Down Syndrome. To be honest, it was not pleasant at all but over fairly quickly. The relief of knowing that everything in fine was worth going through it. Are you thinking of having the NT scan? Good luck

newenglander71 · June 2012

I did not have an amnio, but did do the cvs. For me, I found it a little uncomfortable, but not painful - others may have different experiences with the pain, just like for an amnio. And each practice has their own odds of MC after these procedures, the place I chose, the odds for amnio and cvs were the same (1 in 400). Like pp have said, there are non-invasive tests that can be done prior to this to give you a better estimate of the odds of DS.

footnotegirl · June 2012

I had an amnio much later in my pregnancy (36 weeks). We did it so that we could be prepared in case there was anything out of the ordinary. We would have done it earlier but we didn't even find out I was pregnant until I was 26 weeks along or so.

Yes, it hurt. I mean, your doctor is inserting a needle into your womb. I'm not going to lie and say it's painless. HOWEVER I would say that the pain was about equal to the pain of getting my blood drawn with a little added momentary muscle cramp. I was back to work later that day.

The rates for miscarriage are calculated based on all amnio's done. This includes doctors who do an amnio once a month along with doctors who do amnios every day. The more skill and practice a doctor has, the better your chances and really, for the most part it's a very small risk.

The procedure is that they'll have you on the ultrasound table and will give you an ultrasound first to find good pockets in your amniotic sac to draw from without touching the baby. Once they find some spots, they'll prep you (they coated me with alcohol and then iodine and then paper blankets to make a 'window') and then hold an ultrasound wand over the spot so the doctor can watch as the needle goes in. Needle goes in and then deposits a flexible tube and the needle comes right back out. The fluid is drawn (this took about 45 seconds for mine) and then the tube is pulled out and they put on a bandaid. The whole procedure took about 10 minutes, the actual amnio itself less than 2 minutes.

JonesBaby0624 · June 2012

3rdat40:
It's totally a personal choice, but I am opting not to get one. I agree with your doctor about the odds, but if my baby has Downs or other chromosomal issue, we're keeping him/her anyway, so I guess I'd rather go through pregnancy assuming the best.

Good luck with your decision!

This exactly!!

JulesDiane · June 2012

My DS odds were were decent considering my age (1:300), but they still offered me an amnio. I opted for the Verifi blood test which is a non invasive blood draw that supposedly that is supposedly 99.9% correct (MaterniT21 is another similar test.. it depends on what your OB might offer). It *is* still experimental, but I feel comfortable with the results. The amnio wasn't worth the risk. If my odds were greater, I might have considered it. Good luck with whatever you choose!

angelacarmen · June 2012

I agree with PPs re getting an NT scan/blood tests done first. If those results come back with no markers, then you should feel good about not getting an amnio. My doctor recommended this course. We also have had multiple m/c so he knew it was a concern for us. I do understand how an amnio might be calming though. Good luck with your decision!

reb562 · June 2012

I'm opting out. I'm 38 and this is my first and for someone reason I don't have the need to get one done.

linjmurx · June 2012

I am having an amnio (I'm 40) with no pre-testing. I did the screening last pregnancy, and it came back with 1 in 27 odds of Down's Syndrome. That created several weeks of stress and worry until I got the amnio done and results. We don't want to go through that again. It's a tough decision though. I feel very confident in the doctor that will be doing my procedure and that helps. Best of luck to you.

Edit: I don't remember the pain, so if it hurt, it wasn't much and very brief.

ExcitedMum2B · June 2012

Do the NT scan and quad screen first, you still are early enoughin your pregnancy to be able to do those. The results from that might rule out the need for an amnio. I had one yesterday, it hurt like a bad bad bad thing. But I blame that on the baby's position and the doctor doing it, everyone else I talked to said it was a pinch.

not sure about the amnio

Re: not sure about the amnio

Choose Another Board

Search Boards