NT/NIPT Discussion Thread

elle-0409 · February 2022

This is a thread for everyone to discuss testing options, ask questions, share results, etc.

Note: possible trigger warnings ahead.

theblondebump · February 2022

Had my NT scan today and it went well!

At first, it was a little odd, the ultrasound technician turned on the radio and “bad to the bone” was playing 😂 I was like ummm I would really like to just focus on the ultrasound, would you mind if we turned that off? Haha awkward.

Anyway, she said everything looked normal to her. Baby was measuring perfectly on track with my due date and had a healthy heartbeat - yay! The baby had its legs crossed at its ankles and was just chillin, very cute.

The doctor called this evening to explain in further detail that early anatomy looked good and NT measured above 95th percentile.

I also did my NIPT today so I should get those results soon, though I always get stressed that since the sex of the baby will be in my file now officially, that it will accidentally get revealed to me! She reminded me several times not to open the NIPT results in the online portal. I think a lot of people do NIPT just to know the gender, we’re firmly Team Green haha.

But yay for a healthy baby!

wiseh · February 2022

I'm booked in to get NIPT on the 4th of March at 11w1d, NT scan is on the 11th of March at 12w1d.

I am still confused as to when I need to do my bloods for the NT scan? When I called yesterday the chick thought I was asking about NIPT and was like "we don't do that" and then I tried to say that it was for the NT bloods but she just wasn't listening to me and now I'm confused and a little bit stressed that I am going to do it wrong.

kboydbowman · February 2022

Although done at the same time and to look at similar things, the ultrasound and the bloodwork are two different things, and the bloodwork part is actually the part that's called the NIPT. They look at different things. In the ultrasound they're going to be looking at the baby's nuchal fold (an indicator for Down's), and in the blood test they're looking at baby's free DNA in your blood to assess risk of several different serious genetic disorders (and you can find out the gender if you want).

wiseh · February 2022

@kboydbowman maybe the NT scan is different in Australia? Here you need a blood test done for both it and the NIPT - they are different.

The NT blood work tests for hcg & a pregnancy related protein (PAPP-A) and then compares those levels to the nuchal fold thickness for risk rating, because nuchal fold can be expected to be different for different levels. It's a little bit confusing and maybe that's why the imaging place couldn't wrap their head around it but they had literally no idea - I guess living in a town with around 50 births a year has some disadvantages when it comes to medical providers not being familiar with pregnancy.. My GP didn't know when to do the NT scan blood test either & said I need to ask the medical imaging place. I guess I don't really need the proper NT scan because I am getting the NIPT but it seems a waste to not do it properly now that it's all booked in.

theblondebump · February 2022

@wiseh I think some doctors do a blood test that is a little more basic than the NIPT (which tests for several disorders) and look at those results in conjunction with the NT scan.

kboydbowman · February 2022

Hmmm...I don't remember a separate blood test other than just the NIPT. Lemme go look at my labs from around that time, hang on....

can't find anything, sorry no help lol

wiseh · February 2022

Haha that's OK - I think Aus NT must just be different. Classic! I'm really struggling with being where I am. In Australia we have public & private healthcare (public is essentially free or heavily discounted, and you just kind of get whoever you get at the time, but private is $$$$ and you choose your healthcare provider), but where I live there is no private health care providers that specialist in pregnancy and because of the low birth numbers pregnancy is a bit of a novelty for everyone else. The hospital won't accept me into their system until 16 weeks so just biding my time until then.

whitta1015 · February 2022

Getting my lab work done tomorrow for my NIPT. Hopefully the results aren't taking super long these days because my birthday is next weekend so DH wants to get the results from my OB and surprise me with a gender reveal just between us (+ our daughter) while we are at the beach for my birthday!

lalarose22 · February 2022

Is anyone else not doing nt/nipt? We didn't do it with DS1 because the results weren't going to change anything for us, so we decided to do the same with this pregnancy.

theblondebump · February 2022

@lalarose22 not even the NT scan?

lalarose22 · February 2022

@theblondebump I don't know if my provider does the NT scan. The only thing they offered last pregnancy and this pregnancy is the MaterniT21 blood test.

theblondebump · February 2022

Oh interesting! @lalarose22 at my provider the maternit21 (nipt) is def optional (and usually not covered by insurance unless you have a particular risk factor or something) but the NT scan is just routine and honestly, I don’t think it’s even optional. They call the NT scan the level 1 ultrasound and the 20 week anatomy scan the level 2 ultrasound.

lalarose22 · February 2022

So maybe mine is included in the dating scan? That’s what they call the 10 week one at mine. It’s so confusing how everywhere does things differently!

kboydbowman · February 2022

The NT isn't done until at least 11 weeks because the stuff they're measuring isn't reliable before then. It's pretty much always between 11 and 14 weeks if they're going to do it.

mokay19 · February 2022

@lalarose22 I haven’t done either for my previous 2 and I don’t plan to with this one. I’m not AMA and I have had previous genetic testing through the fertility clinic so I feel comfortable not doing either.

NIPT isn’t covered for me and I don’t remember my doctors office mention the NT last pregnancy.

lalarose22 · February 2022

@mokay19 okay yeah my midwives have definitely not mentioned it!

kboydbowman · February 2022

@lalarose22 if you're seeing midwives rather than OBs that could also be part of the reason. Midwives in general tend to go for fewer interventions htan OBs unless they're absolutely medically indicated. Which is not a bad thing, IMO.

trapperkeeper87 · February 2022

I plan to do the NIPT only because if something is wrong with the baby, we want to be prepared with any reading and research we can do beforehand. I also have a... complicated... family history, so I don't have any information on what may or may not run in my genes.

kboydbowman · February 2022

@trapperkeeper87
have you ever done 23andme (with the health report)? Can get a LOT of great info about what you might be a carrier for.

trapperkeeper87 · February 2022

@kboydbowman Unfortunately, I have. It's a long story that I don't feel like getting into.

lalarose22 · February 2022

@kboydbowman for sure! That's one of the reasons I love midwives so much!

kboydbowman · February 2022

@trapperkeeper87 I'm sorry.

For me it was a super useful thing - my mother was adopted at a very young age and the orphanage subsequently burned down, so there's virtually no health records on that side of the family, so I found it VERY reassuring to know that I'm not a carrier for anything potentially evil.

laj0217 · February 2022

So, we’re planning to do the NIPT bc I don’t know my health history (adopted) and it makes me feel better. However, at 34, it is not “indicated.” So, pretty sure it will be an out of pocket expense. Any idea what we should expect for this in the southeast US (specifically GA)?

whitta1015 · February 2022

@laj0217 I can't remember what I paid last time, but I'm going tomorrow for mine and I'll let you know! I'm in SC, so maybe it's similar.

theblondebump · February 2022

For anyone that has the materniT21 as an option, you can sign up for their every mom pledge (you call them, it takes 2 mins to sign up, they send you a link and you click it) then after your NIPT you fill out a survey for them. If you do this, they guarantee the most you’ll pay out of pocket is $299. If it ends up being less with your insurance, you get to pay whatever is the cheaper option.

jhysmath · February 2022

@laj0217 when I had the panorama done for my last, it was billed at $3k. Some how my insurance covered it, not sure if it's because it was billed as a check for a molar pregnancy or something, but I was shocked to see it was covered and didn't even have to pay it due to our $3k deductible.

laj0217 · February 2022

@jhysmath oh man that would have been a rough bill! Glad the insurance picked it up!

@whitta1015 that would be awesome. I think GA and SC are probably pretty similar.

@theblondebump I’m not sure which test they use, but I’ll keep that in mind. $300 is totally doable to help reduce some of this overall baby anxiety.

lilbean18 · February 2022

I got the NIPT done. Took one week exactly to get results which was nice! My clinic used Natura. They have a self pay option which is $249. I used that bc if it went thro my insurance, it would have been $645. I’m a FTM, no prior history of issues and under 35.

kboydbowman · February 2022

And this is why I

Kaiser. My out of pocket cost for my NIPT? $0.

laj0217 · February 2022

Thanks for the information ladies! It sounds like there are affordable options to get this testing done 😊

laj0217 · February 2022

I went in today for NIPT labs. They do bill insurance but max out of pocket is $249 due to some pharmaceutical program!!

Since I’m adopted, they’re also doing a genetic carrier screening to cover the fact I have no known medical history. If I’m positive for anything, they’ll do a follow up test for my husband.

We should have results between March 3 and March 8.

jessicaaaanne · February 2022

I'm in TN and have BCBS insurance and the NIPT is covered as long as it's done after 10 weeks.

theblondebump · February 2022

I think my NIPT results came back already, but I can’t open them in my online portal because they will also have the gender results in there which I don’t want to see! I have to wait for my doctor to call and report the results of the NIPT 😩

trapperkeeper87 · February 2022

@theblondebump Did you tell them to mark on the order that you didn't want the sex revealed? They had to actually mark that on mine with my daughter.

jhysmath · February 2022

@theblondebump they marked it on mine when I had one for my daughter too. We made it clear we did not want to know the sex.

theblondebump · February 2022

@trapperkeeper87 @jhysmath it’s marked that we don’t want to know, but the gender is still in the test results, so if I were to just open the test results, I would be able to see the gender. Hence why I won’t open them! Haha.

mokay19 · February 2022

@theblondebump I didn’t even get the NIPT, but with my first kid I still remember a VERY vivid pregnancy dream of them posting my data after I stressed that I didn’t want to know and when I opened the info, it was in big letters at the top! Lol I still remember it very clearly 5 years later… and it was only a dream!

trapperkeeper87 · February 2022

@theblondebump That's awful that they list it when the box on the form is checked that you don't want to know! They tested for sex abnormalities during my last pregnancy, but simply reported that everything was low risk there. I did have the option of discovering the sex if something questionable was listed, though. What company is that? I'll need to make sure that isn't the one my doctor uses.

x_tina729 · February 2022

@lalarose22 I’m still debating if I want to get the NIPT. I am getting the NT (they made it seem routine and my high risk doctor wanted to make sure I was getting it). But for the NIPT I am unsure. I feel like my major concern is price and is it really necessary? I do want to know the sex but I’m ok waiting. I have no genetic disorders in my family history and am 32 so my regular OBGYN said it’s more necessary for AMA or if I had history. But I almost feel guilty not getting something offered???

theblondebump · February 2022

@trapperkeeper87 I did the materniti21 but I’m sure it has nothing to do with the test itself and just with how my lab/hospital system reports things. It’s all just like automated. They told me up front the choices were either do the test as normal and the gender results would be there (so don’t open the test results) or have them not run the gender part at all and then it wouldn’t come up. But that seemed silly to me, I still wanted them to run the gender part because it tests for complications. It’s not the end of the world, I just can’t look at the test results myself. I’m just annoyed that the results came back on Friday and no one called Friday to tell me about them so I have to wait until after the weekend to hear reassurance that everything was fine. DH and I did genetic carrier screens before trying to get pregnant with our first so I know we don’t have any high risk for anything, but still. It’s just nice to know everything is good.

Want a personalized experience?

NT/NIPT Discussion Thread

Re: NT/NIPT Discussion Thread

Choose Another Board

Search Boards