[Adara]

I am thinking about doing this first trimester screening, but I'm so scared and it's pretty expensive over here and also I don't know what to expect, so maybe you can share your experiences here. How do the results look like? Do they tell you you get an 80% chance for a healthy baby or 50%, great, now you are as clever as before...or even worse like 20% or how do they talk about the results?

[purelegance]

the first tri screening has high false positive rate, so i turned them down for DD. the last thing i needed was extra stress from "oh, what if it's postive?" then talking about it, then waiting for the 2nd test then waiting for that result THEN finally get a definitive yes or no at her birth. no thanks!

[mrmnmom82]

I don't get the test because of the false positives. No matter what the test says, we still plan on having and keeping the baby, so what's the harm in waiting until you meet.

[jkl123]

I just wanted to add here, that I did have the screening done, and I ended up being one of those false positives. Further testing showed thebaby is developing normal. However, because I had the test done, it was discovered early that I have placenta previa. I was immediately told no more heavy lifting, exercise, etc. I haven't had any problems with that, but if I had not done the screening, I wouldn't have known and might have done something to potentially (and unknowingly) harm the baby. So, I am glad I had it done, even with the false positive.

[Adara]

I'm still not sure what to do.

[twinzplus3]

To me, this test is not worth the paper the results are written on. The rate of false positives are so high that it's almost pointless. (Yep--vehemently opposed to doing it here.) I refused it on my last two pg and if I had known I could've refused it on my first two I would've. I honestly think they keep offering this "test" to make more money. One tidibt that they very rarely mention is that they can tell you, a whole lot more accurately, if your baby has those defects via sonogram.

I think the question to think about though is how you would feel not knowing if something was wrong vs how you would feel over the distress of a false positive. Do you feel like if something were to be wrong with the baby you'd HAVE to know or you'd be devastated when he/she was born. Or do you feel like it doesn't really matter in the long run. Keeping in mind again, that all of this can be looked at during a sonogram. (So in other words it's not like you wouldn't know before the baby came --you'd just find out during a sonogram.)

[DK615617]

Is that the blood test that they send you for between 16 and 20 wks? They gave me paper work to go to the lab, and I still haven't gone yet! Ooops.
I got the test done with Tiffany and got a negative.
I figured even if there was a problem we were keeping the baby either way, but if there was something wrong, it would be better to know, that way if there was some extra medical need after delivery we would be better prepared.

[callia]

I got it with my first pregnancy but declined it with every other pregnancy. Simply because of the false positives. If you're at risk for Down's, there are other tests you should look into such as the amnio and the NT scan. You can discuss further options with your doctor, but the AFP usually makes people worry for no reason when we worry enough as it is.

[mollymae]

I had an AFP test done with all my pregnancies except the first. I am complete worrier and it gave me peace of mind.The test doesn't exactly give positives and negative results. I gives you a ratio. My results all came back 1 in 4500 chance. I think anything less than 1 in 250 and they offer you further tests. The results aren't 100%. If you are expecting twins or your EDD is slightly off or they estimate your weight slightly out can all effect the results.

I think a Nuchal Scan picks up slightly more cases of spina bifida that the AFP test.

In the UK they offer this test to every pregnant lady as part of the antenatal care.

[bhoneycutt]

I am not sure which test you are referring to but the first one they offered us (not covered by insurance and cost around $800/can't remember the darn name!!!) we chose not to do because like others have said, even if she did have Down Syndrome, we were going to keep her. I had heard that there were tons of false positives with that test anyway.

Then during the second trimester, they offered a second test (AFP). That is covered by insurance (100% in our case because I went to the correct testing facility). That gives you the ratio like your baby has a 1 in 5000 of having something. That is a good score. Anything 250 or below is looked at more closely. I asked if there were benefits to having that test and they explained that if you're baby does have Spina Bifida, you'd want to know that beforehand because they'd monitor things differently and know to deliver differently, etc. so we did do that test. I think you're probably talking about the first test that was offered (maybe the Nuchal translucency test?). It's up to you but I personally wouldn't spend the money. I'd do the AFP when it's offered. Hope that help! Good luck!!!