Maternal Serum testing « Back to Group Discussions

[Kat_shoshin]

Called the "triple screen" where I live.  

So my m/w said it was optional - so we declined it.

Anyone else do this?  Did you agree to this test or decline it?  Why or why not?

[mymaya]

I will do the MSS on March 1, when I am 13 weeks, and then repeat it at I think 18 or 19 weeks. here it's called "two-stage" test, and it also includes two U/S. it improves the reliability of the Down's detection, and since I will not do amnio or CVS (don't want to under any circumstances), this is as close as it gets for me. since I am 40, my chances are much higher to have chromosomal problems, and I (and DH) need to check. This way of taking these tests also bring down the false positive rate significantly.

mymaya.

[womenswisdom]

I will be declining these tests since I would not do the followup amnio testing to confirm and it would not cause me to do anything differently in terms of keeping a pregnancy. I don't need the added anxiety of waiting for the test results or the unacceptably (to me) high levels of false "positives".

[MissE]

i have already declined the triple screen. they asked if i wanted to do it and i signed a waiver right away.

[cryswilkins]

We haven't done it with our previous two and don't plan on doing it this time.

[kelantan]

One thing about the triple screening is that it is HIGHLY unreliable. In college we learned about it, and some of the "Screenings" are almost 50-50 in accuracy. It causes A LOT of people despair worrying about a special needs child and then the child will come out perfectly normal. (or vice versa... though i haven't really heard about that). The only way to really confirm problems would be with an amnio since it reads DNA but that is also NOT fool proof. I would save yourseflf heartache and unnecessary intervention, personally. But if you do, just be aware that it is HIGHLY inaccurate!

[dandylez]

My sister and best friend both had false positives. So stressful!!! Since then, I've heard of more false positives  that I can count, and no one needs that when they're pregnant. :(  We're opting not to do it.

I'll be 37 when I give birth, so they'll come back to us with higher indicators anyway.  Why put us through that?

[WindyCityMom]

I'm not going to do it... it won't change my mind as far as keeping the pregnancy goes.  I also decline the NT scan. If, for some reason, I end up testing positive for say, a baby with likely Down's syndrome.. what would that mean for me?  Would my midwives ship me off to high risk?  I know of Down's babies who are born vaginally.

I want a VBAC and I don't want to be sectioned again... I feel like that risk would be increased exponentially should I be seen by high risk or even your run of the mill OB.

So no.. not worth it for me.  

[Kat_shoshin]

Originally Posted by WindyCityMom 

I'm not going to do it... it won't change my mind as far as keeping the pregnancy goes.  I also decline the NT scan. If, for some reason, I end up testing positive for say, a baby with likely Down's syndrome.. what would that mean for me?  Would my midwives ship me off to high risk?  I know of Down's babies who are born vaginally.

I want a VBAC and I don't want to be sectioned again... I feel like that risk would be increased exponentially should I be seen by high risk or even your run of the mill OB.

So no.. not worth it for me.  

Now THAT right there is a reason for me to NOT test!  You are right - I would loose my care provider!  I wouldn't abort I thought to myself, but maybe I would still want to know y/k?  But bumping up to higher risk and out of midwifery care - great reason to not find out!  I am still giving birth in a specialized children's/maternity hospital so it's not like I would need to transfer birth location or anything anyway.

Awesome guys... good reason.

[judybean]

We don't do any of the tests.  The outcome would be the same regardless (aka, keeping the baby).  I 'get' the benefits of having the knowledge ahead of time to prepare (dh has two young cousins -- both in their 20s at the time -- who have had children with DS), but I don't want to know.

I had a member of a DDC long ago who was doing UA/UC, but went into labor early, went to the hospital, ended up with a c/s and her son was born early and died because of a heart defect.  Nothing could have been done about it even if they HAD found out early, and really, to me... the most beautiful part was that she said she was SO GLAD she didn't know ahead of time.  She said she loved having a beautiful, normal pregnancy for the time she carried him.  She loved him, appreciated him, and had no stresses or worries.  She said she'd gladly do it all over again the exact same way.

That story has really stuck with me.  Something about the joy and love of the unknown.  I like that.

[norskelove]

Too many false positives for my comfort level.  The tests are not diagnostic, so I can see how they can cause a lot of unneeded anxiety.  

[domermommy]

We are doing the alpha-fetoprotein blood test because if there is an issue with the baby's neural tube that could be corrected prior to birth (there have been cases of intrauterine surgeries done to correct certain issues), we'd want to look into it.  We also wouldn't want to risk harming the baby via a vaginal birth if he or she has a very bad neural tube defect.  Basically we plan on keeping our baby regardless, but we will run that test to see if there are any avoidable problems that we can handle before birth.

[Monkey Keeper]

Originally Posted by kelantan 
(or vice versa... though i haven't really heard about that)

My sister had a false negative AFP. She found out at her 20w u/s that her baby had severe spina bifida incomaptible with life after completely normal results on her first trimester screening.  I decine it.

[kelantan]

I do have a girlfriend whose son had severe spina bifida that they corrected pre-birth... he still has problems, but does a lot better than he would... i'm not sure how they caught it though. I still think the 20week ultrasound tells you enough...all the big stuff... and they don't do the spina bifida surgery until after 20 weeks anyway... 

[crystal_buffaloe]

We won't be doing any testing/screening.

I can definitely see it for people who might consider termination, and even for those just wanting to know even if that wouldn't change their course of action, but for me, it would just be so much more headache and anxiety and still not really tell me anything, IYKWIM. I wouldn't amnio, and the only reason I would even consider termination would be for an abnormality incompatible with life, and I'm not even sure then -- still probably not. I can wait until the 20w scan.

[MacKinnon]

We decline the triple screen because of the high false positive rates. Both of my SIL's had false positives. We also would decline an amnio and would keep a baby regardless. We just do the 20w ultrasound.