Transnuchal Lucency Ultrasound- Will you do it?

Breathe.

I have no idea why your doctor would suggest that unless you have some actual risk factors. As far as I'm aware, the ultrasound to check for down's syndrome is usually only done on women over 35.

I'm not really a worrier, so I'm afraid I can't help much with that. All I can say is that the odds are very good that your baby is perfectly fine.

Please don't let your fear keep you from a homebirth. I let my husband's fear keep me from one with my oldest son. I went to the hospital because of fear and I wound up with an unnecessary cesarean, which resulted in a year of pain. My other 2 babies were born at home, unassisted. I had moments/weeks during my pregnancy with ds2 where I was completely terrified, certain that the dr who cut me had been right. I knew what he said was completely illogical, though, so I ignored the fear because it wasn't based in reality.

There's a good saying that might help you..."Do it afraid". You don't have to get rid of the fear to do something, you just have to not let it control you. Try not to let the fear/worry influence your decisions.

Do some research on the nuchal translucency sono. It does not diagnose Down's, or other chromosomal anomalies, but rather tells you whether you have an increased risk for them. Same idea with the Triple/Quad Screen blood test.

I do NOT do either test. Why? Because no matter what, I will love and want this child. Many times, these tests tell you have an "increased risk" and baby is fine. Increased risk just means a risk higher than your age-based risk. Everyone is at some risk for having a baby with a chromosomal anomaly. The standard is to recommend these tests to everyone, to protect providers from lawsuits, not because you in particular need it more than someone else.

Since it won't change the outcome for me, I'd rather not be told I have an increased risk, and then worry the rest of the pregnancy.

I DO do the 20 week anatomy scan sono, for the purpose of making sure baby has no obvious problems that would necessitate a hospital birth (spina bifida, heart defect, etc). My MW say you really need to wait til at least 18 weeks to see enough anatomy to make this scan worth it. So if that is your purpose, in addition to looking at cervical competence, I'd wait til 18-20 weeks.

I hope that helps. Try not to worry. Chances are baby is fine and healthy. =)

I'm doing it and we did it last time. I know I may be in the minority here, but I like the reassurance and I would want to be able to prepare (and to consider the possibility of amnio, although I think I would decline it) if there was a large risk of down syndrome or some other issue.

I'm pretty sure it has become standard to offer this screening to all women and not just those over 35. Keep in mind however that it is a screening and *not* a diagnostic test. It can only tell you if you have a high probability of a problem, but cannot tell you for sure. For some people the idea of a false positive as it were is way too stressful to be worth doing the test. I think you have to decide based on your own feelings about what you might do with the information and how much peace of mind vs. worry it might actually provide.

Apparently the u/s measurement that they do (this is the actual nuchal translucency part) is fairly accurate (especially if you are caucasian, apparently it is less accurate with some ethnicities) while the blood work they do is more prone to false positives. Just something to think about. If you are having a u/s anyway to check for cervical wellness, you could get the nuchal measurement done, but decline the blood work. Just a thought.

Good luck.

I thought I'd just add a few words since I've had bad experiences with these types of screening tests and am actually planning on having this done. The reason I'm having it, is that I'm 45! I'm surprised that they're offering this routinely for young moms to be. It's not particularly invasive, but it could cause a lot of unnecessary anxiety and stress. When I was 26 and pregnant with my oldest daughter, naive and not very assertive, my doctor convinced me that I should have what was then known as the triple check screening test. It came back indicating a strong possibility of downs syndrome. My husband and I discussed amniocentesis at that point, but decided that nothing we did would change the outcome of the pregnancy and I was just not into that invasive of a test. The doctor was not happy with our decision, but it was one of my first experiences of asserting myself during the pregnancy which I've now learned is imperative. I did worry throughout the pregnancy, but I was low risk for down syndrome because of my age and no history of genetic disorders on either side so I decided to enjoy the pregnancy and pray that everyone would be okay. My daughter was born full term, but the overmedicated, hospital labor experience was terrible for both of us and she ended up in the NICU with breathing issues. At that point, she was seen by a neonatalogist who looked at her and pronounced that she had down's syndrome. They ordered a full chromosomal profile before I even spoke with my wonderful, handpicked pediatrician who took one look at the baby and said that was the most ridiculous diagnosis she had ever heard. The baby showed no signs of down's syndrome and she would never have ordered more testing. To make a long story a little shorter, 7 weeks later the results were back and she did not have down's syndrome or any other chromosomal abnormality. She has just completed her 1st year of college and is a wonderful, bright, and wise young woman. I now have 3 other children and am pregnant with my 5th at the ripe old age of 45. I did have the NT with my youngest who is now 4 years old. It seems a little more sophisticated than the old triple check test and we received good odds that the baby did not have down's syndrome. Although the doctor performing it did try to convince us that we should have amniocentesis as well given my advanced maternal age (I was only 40 then!) Everything was fine and she is a healthy 4 year old. I'm going to go ahead and have it again, but I'm so much more experienced at asserting myself with the medical profession. I am very concerned with my risk at age 45, but the results wouldn't change the outcome of the pregnancy or convince me to have an amniocentesis. If we get odds that aren't as great, it will allow me to talk to friends that have raised children with down's syndrome and educate myself to prepare myself to be the best mother I can be for this particular child.

Sorry about the long rambling answer, but I just wanted to give some perspective on the test. If I were 26, I don't think I would do it. I'm hopeful that at 45, it will give me a little reassurance. I'll still refuse the quad screen though. I don't ever want to go through that again. That test has too many false positives.