Amniocentesis or not

J

Jojo

Registered User
Am expecting next May and will be 37 years old then. I had the OSCAR test (nuchal transparency combined with blood test) and the results were that I am low risk with a risk ratio of 1:5212 (given that the risk ratio based on my age ONLY is something like 1:261). My doctor assures me that these results are of a very high accuracy and the literature out there attests to something like a 97% accuracy.

Although on the one hand I still have concerns that it still isn't 100% certain, I am also hesitant about putting myself through the risk of miscarriage that comes with amniocentesis.

I would reallly like to hear from anyone who has had a personal experience or knows of someone else who had a low risk diagnosis, either proceeded to have the amnio or not and found out that the baby had Downs Symdrome. So far all I hear are cases of false positives - of women who were told that they were high risk only to have healthy babies.
 
I've had three babies now (the last one at 37 years old). Each test has shown me to be in a low risk group and therefore we didn't proceed further. Before going for an amnio you need to consider what you will do with the results. If you would continue with the pregnancy regardless of the results then I would suggest not having the test; what would it achieve-aside from the risk of a miscarriage.
We decided not to go for an amnio for this reason. There are no guarantees in life and it always amazes me that any healthy babies are ever born when you think how many things can go wrong. My advice would be try to relax, be happy that you are in a low risk group and enjoy your pregnancy; this is the easy part!

Jools
 
I am due next May too! You must be about 11 weeks then? That's where I am right now and every day seems interminable until that 12 weeks mark. I will be doing the OSCAR test myself this coming Monday and I am very anxious at what it may reveal. I am 30 but have been advised to do it because of previous recurring miscarriages.

I agree with Jools that you should not do the amnio. You should be rejoicing because you are not in the high risk group! I can't wait to be out of the 'danger zone' when I can finally revel in the joy of expecting a child. I have been putting all excitement and happiness on hold because I have had so much dissapointment and pain in the past year or so.

I wish you a healthy and problem free pregnancy!
 
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also just wanted to copy this 'positive' thing I found on line

:Butbut
"Effect of maternal age on screening performance

An older woman is more likely to have a screen-positive result than a younger woman as she starts with a higher age-specific risk of Down's syndrome. For this reason, the test is more likely to detect a Down's syndrome pregnancy in an older woman than in a younger woman. Whatever the woman's age, the best estimate of her risk is obtained using her age in conjunction with her marker values. Click on the links to see the age specific performance of the three screening tests: "
 
Jools, greatimp and Tutor 1,

Thanks for sharing your own experiences. It has helped to hear from women out there of sthe ame age group - maybe something to do with safety in numbers!

I was pleased to have what I thought were fairly favourable results and after lengthy discussion with my husband, we are probably going to not do the amnio.

With a prior miscarriage and problems in conceiving, I just want to relax and enjoy the pregnancy. This will likely niggle at me for while still but hopefully that will pass, together with the morning sickness!

Jojo
 
I was interested that although your risk was calculated at 1 to 5,212 this wasn?t reassuring to you. (My odds were 1 to 725 when I had my last baby, aged 39, and I found this very reassuring and so did my doctor as he didn?t mention an amniocentesis after this result)

So I thought I?d look up other things with a risk of about 1 to 5,000

Odds of injury from shaving: 6,585 to 1
Odds of being considered possessed by Satan: 7,000 to 1
Chance that Earth will experience a catastrophic collision with an asteroid in the next 100 years: 1 in 5,000
http://funny2.com/odds.htm

Odds of being struck by lightening in your lifetime (est. 80 years) is 1 to 5,000
http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/medical.htm

Odds of having triplets (without the use of fertility drugs) is 1 in 8,100
http://www.storknet.com/cubbies/multiples/odds.htm

Odds of being killed in a car crash - 1 in 5,000
http://www.brainofbrian.com/facts-statistics2.html

(This last one came from a web site with the title ? Useless Facts
I cannot guarantee all facts are facts. But I can guarantee all are useless!)

Best wishes and I hope you enjoy the rest of your pregnancy,
Barb
 
Hi Jojo,
Another positive story for you.
I am 36, and like you had a previous miscarriage and took a long time to conceive.
My results were around 1:2500 and we opted not to do the amnio / CVS. Our son is just fine.

I can well remember the angst of whether to have the CVS for more certainty or not. For me once the decision was made, I stopped worrying though, so hope that it is the same for you, and you can now go on to enjoy the rest of the pregnancy.
 
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