I wanted to post about this because to me it was an eye-opener and important to note. Additionally, I was talking to Robyn about it last week and she had not really done any research on the topic. I wanted any other new moms or those of you planning to get pregnant, to be aware of this decision you get to make.
My Dr. has been mentioning these new tests to me that can detect problems with the baby... for instance, Down Syndrome. We were interested because for one, you can at least prepare emotionally and educate yourself if you are needing to take care of a child in this state.
Simply put, Amniocentresis is the process in which the Dr. collects a sample of the amniotic fluid that surrounds the baby (with a huge needle to the tummy!). Aside from all that drama, step one, before you get to the amnio is to have a simple blood test (from the mother) that is not invasive to the baby to determine if there may be something wrong. This screening is NOT 100% either. So in my opinion, if you decide to get the screen done, you should be aware of what there is to follow and be prepared to do the amnio; otherwise doing screening seems kind of pointless.
The most common reason to have an amnio is to determine whether a baby has a genetic disorder or a chromosomal abnormality, such as Down syndrome. (some symptoms can be treated in the womb).
To get your brains rolling, the amnio is invasive to the baby in the womb and there is a 1 in 200 chance of miscarriage. To me, that's a big deal. If currently, there is nothing wrong visibly then I will stick to not doing it. Some women may have to have the amnio for other specific reasons. I have decided not to do the test. Robyn has done the screen but I don't think she'll do the amnio after hearing what I said. Really researching it is a must! A great start to this is at Babycenter.com - HERE . There's a lot of varied information and personal comments to from women that have experienced it. Wikipedia also has some more straightforward descriptions about it.
If anyone has had it done I'd love to hear your comments!
4 comments:
I personally havnt had a amnio. everyone I talk to says when there tests came up a false positive that they felt more stressed and didnt just enjoy being preganant.
Given your family history...I just wouldn't do any tests...Enjoy being pregnant and know you'll love the outcome.
Sari - exactly! I think most women do the blood work test/screening because it is not invasive, but don't want to chance the amnio and if your test was a false positive, that's a whole lot of stress for nothing! If you are not planning on doing the amnio, don't do the screening either.
As my mom said, we have a fairly healthy family history so I can do without it! :)
I didn't do an amnio either, definitely not worth the risk! And with twins, it's usually two needle sticks, one for each sac, ugh! I think the fewer procedures during pregnancy, the better. Just let the little one/s do their thing. Normal monitoring is different, of course, and if there's a real need for more, otherwise, hands/needles/etc. off!
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