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Your Prenatal Test Checklist
During the course of my prenatal visits (I'm nine months pregnant and due any day now), I was tested for everything from cystic fibrosis to Down syndrome. Whenever I went in to see my ob-gyn, it seemed to be time for another test. I thought these tests -- used to check for chromosomal abnormalities -- were mandatory, but I've since learned that your doctor is only required to offer them. You don't have to accept.
Depending on your beliefs, you might not even want to have every test. "The real question is, what are you going to do with the information you get?" says Lorien Tambini, genetic counseling supervisor at Roosevelt Hospital, in New York City. "If there's a problem, do you terminate the pregnancy or continue the pregnancy and keep the baby? It's a very personal decision."
Here's an overview of some of the common tests you should expect to get during your pregnancy. If your nerves get the better of you and you start to worry, remember that only 5 percent of all pregnant women receive an atypical test result during pregnancy, and because of false positives and erroneous results, even fewer women will have a child born with a genetic or physical abnormality.
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In my religion and my culture you are shuned or frowned upon the whole community for even taking terminating your child into consideration. I get so mad everytime someone asks me if im taking adoption or abortion into consideration. In american society it is more common I suppose but not in my society of culture, its called being irrisponsible for your actions and giving away a privledge that some women wish they had no matter how hard the situation might be.
10/22/2011 12:04:27 PM Report AbuseWe did not do the testing. We tried so long and hard to get pregnant and the risk for miscarriage that comes with the tests was not worth getting the tests when they are mostly not right. We will just wait and see. I am 30 weeks pregnant with our first son. Can't wait to meet him.
7/31/2011 01:42:20 PM Report AbuseOur practitioner asked us in our first appointment if we would want testing. We knew we wouldn't, so we said no. She said ok and if we change our minds at any time we can ask for whatever we want. It makes our appts so nice and relaxing! We know we're not going to terminate and don't believe any advance information will help us feel any more prepared - we're TOTALLY unprepared anyhow! LOL!
7/29/2011 12:28:36 PM Report AbuseHey I am soon to be mom of 7 I have 5 boys and 1 girl i am waiting on a handsome baby boy me I have never taking none of the test only walk by faith along all of my babies are healthy not say any thing about taking the any thing that calm your mind and worries by any means do it I just dont it dosen't matter to me either way
7/10/2011 02:28:16 PM Report AbuseI think there is too much emphasis being put on Down Syndrome. There are a number of other chromosomal abnormalities that these test check for such as Trisomy 13 and 18. These tests are also not 100% accurate. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I had the second semester quadruple screen done and it came back good. I had her at 37 weeks and when she was 6 days old we found out that she had Trisomy 18 aka Edwards syndrome and she passed away 8 days later.
4/12/2011 06:20:05 PM Report Abuseim a soon to b mom of 7 i have alwaz had tha test done it th abest way to b ready for wha ever is to come werthe it bad or good when we pray for it all b good no one can b a 100% ready for a baby with speacl needs or a sick baby i had a sick baby she waz number 5 thnk god she doing very good now .... i think everybody should have it done .....
4/6/2011 02:50:32 PM Report AbuseI have been having seizures and still don't know why. My ob doc at the time just said it was caused from the pregnancy and would go away. I since then switched doc's and can't wait to get a second opinion. In requards to the testing I think that we need this done due to the complicatiions I have had. I also have thought we'll what would I do with the information even if I had it. It's tuff making all these decisions but I guess it's just preparing us for motherhood!
2/15/2011 10:03:54 AM Report AbuseIf the tests were more than a probablity then it would be easy to decide whether or not to have them done. People need to realize that even if the results are negative, it doesn't really mean negative. It means you are less likely to have a child with a genetic problem.
11/9/2010 12:53:08 PM Report Abusei am going to get the testing...i just want to be able to prepare myself for what i will have to do if i am going to have a baby with special needs. because there is still alot that i don't know and i want to be the best mother i can be...(not saying that you're not a good mother if you don't get the testing) i just like to be prepared!
10/2/2010 12:42:22 AM Report AbuseWe decided against alot ofthe genetic testing because we didn't want to know because we wouldn't want to terminate regardless. SO we thought it better just not to know. Now we did do the blood test for down snydrome and that test came back good. I'm 29 weeks pregnant now and patiently waiting on beautiful baby girl.:]
9/26/2010 07:20:39 PM Report Abuse