Multiples Prenatal Screening

dal2aus · February 2014

I am 10 weeks pregnant with twins, and will be seen by my OB every 2 weeks. On my birth month board, there's a lot of talk about different screens that take place late 1st/early 2nd trimester. I've only met with my OB once so far, at the U/S where we first found out about the twins, and she mentioned that we will be doing testing, but didn't get into specifics. I was checking with my insurance company, and it seems that some of the scans aren't covered for multiple gestations (for example, I can only do NT scan not the bloodwork that usually goes with it). I'm concerned about defects, but given my prior losses would rather not run the risk of amnio or CVS. I plan to discuss with my OB at my next visit next week, but I'd like to be prepared for the discussion. What prenatal screens were you offered with multiples, and was it covered by insurance?

oughtonk · February 2014

I'm not to far along yet so can't comment past where I'm at but I had an NT scan with blood draw at 12 weeks and then another blood draw they combine with the 12 week one at 16 weeks. Everything so far has been covered by my insurance. It seems funny to me that your insurance would cover the NT Scan but not the blood work, my doc basically said it's all combined to do the genetic screening. I'll have the standard anatomy scan at 20 weeks, it'll just take longer because there's two babies. At this point I haven't had any test outside of what I had with my first, just more ultrasounds (once a month is the standard at my OB with multiples)

dmurrie · February 2014

We're not getting any of the special testing done. It wouldn't change anything for us right now (there's nothing we could do about it during pregnancy, and we sure as heck aren't going to terminate the pregnancy if they find something), and our OB informed us they've been having a lot of troubles getting insurance companies to cover the tests, particularly the company that we have.

DoublePortion · February 2014

My NT scan and labs were covered by insurance. You might try calling your OB and getting the diagnosis codes for the ultrasound and labs and then call your insurance back and have them look up coverage with those specific codes. Plus, sometimes it helps just speaking to a different person at the insurance company. The last person you spoke to might have misunderstood.

rcnavywife · February 2014

We had the NT scan, but not the bloodwork that usually goes with it. As pp mentioned, I was told the bloodwork is inaccurate with multiples. Other than that, I just had a lot of ultrasounds. I can't speak to the insurance side of things as I'm in Canada.

dal2aus · February 2014

Thanks for everyone's input. The reason the insurance company won't cover the bloodwork with the scans is for the reason some previous posters mentioned. Because the bloodwork with multiples is inaccurate, it's considered experimental. I was wondering if there were alternatives to this type of screening. As I mentioned before, I've had previous losses and would rather not take on the risk of miscarriage associated with more invasive testing.

I don't buy into the implication that having testing means that terminating my pregnancy if something was wrong is an option for us. It's not an option, but I would like to have some idea of the type of care I need to seek in the event that this pregnancy turns out to be even more challenging than it already is.

Ylvelill · February 2014

We did mat21 with my twins. That's the only one that says it can be done with multiples, aside from the NT one. It can not tell you the sex though, but can say if one of them is a boy

Labyrinth3000 · February 2014

I'm so glad my insurance has covered all my tests and monitoring so far because I've been through it all! I have also made it clear that I wanted my insurance coverage checked on before anything was done. I was quoted nearly $1,000 for a Fetal Cardiologist scan and by simply switching to a different specialist my new quote became $40. My advice is to always ask for a quote and to check your insurance statements closely.

Here's a list of what I've done so far at 28 weeks with mono/di. Keep in mind my NT scan came out abnormal and one baby was diagnosed with VSD which has since cleared up on it's own. All of these tests have come out clear or negative so far except for the first diabetes test.

NT Scan, CVS Test (be warned you might be charged twice for this test - one sample for each baby), many scans for TTTS, many scans for fetal anatomy, fetal heart scan, monthly urine test, one hour gestational diabetes test, three hour gestational diabetes test, Spinal Bifida blood test, some other various routine blood tests like Rubella and STDs. I believe I'll have a fetal non-stress test next as well as the blood test that detects preterm labor. I'm starting to feel like a lab rat!

daisy19782011 · February 2014

I had the Mat 21 done as it is the only one that is accurate for twins and as it was there was only 1 company that did it for multiples. With insurance, I just got a bill for $958, so not cheap, but the peace of mind was nice. I would not have done an amnio. I too have a previous loss and was 35 when delivered.

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