This achievement of modern medicine, aimed at the early detection of pathologies of fetal development, is hotly discussed in the corridors of antenatal clinics and in forums. Is it necessary to do it, on what terms is it necessary to come for research and what awaits the expectant mother as a result of screenings?
The scariest stories broadcast in the communities of pregnant and planning women are something like this:
- “Immediately after a bad result, the woman was immediately sent for an abortion, and as a result it turned out that the screening gave the wrong result”;
- “In the process of re-screening, the woman lost her baby”;
- "I did all three screenings, and all of them gave excellent results, but the baby was born with Down syndrome."
Why is this happening, are these facts reliable? And finally, what is this procedure?
First of all, this is a prenatal check of the fetus for several factors. This includes a biochemical blood test, an ultrasound scan, and also takes into account additional aspects, including:
- Age of parents;
- Predisposition to genetic diseases;
- The presence of spontaneous abortion in previous pregnancies.
To get a more complete picture, the woman will be asked questions about all relatives - to identify the factor of genetic anomalies. The specialist will also be interested in questions about recently transmitted infectious diseases and even about whether one of the spouses was exposed to radiation or if radiation therapy was used in treatment. The answers to these questions, combined with analyzes, will help to understand whether a woman is at risk.
For the entire pregnancy, the expectant mother must undergo three screenings:
- "Double test"carried out in the period from the tenth to fourteenth week. It includes research on three parameters:
- Ultrasound, in which measurements are taken of the thickness of the collar space of the fetus and the coccygeal-parietal length of the embryo;
- A biochemical analysis of the mother’s blood, aimed at checking the level of the hCG hormone and PAPP-A - a protein that provides the placenta;
- Triple Test conducted from sixteenth to twentieth week, and the results are compared with the first studies.
- Third screening becomes closer to childbirth, from 30 to 34 weeks of pregnancy. This is an ultrasound scan, during which the position of the fetus, the amount of amniotic fluid and the condition of the placenta are checked.
Knowledge of the mechanisms of these studies helps to understand that no doctor will forcefully send a woman to terminate a pregnancy as a result of a “poor analysis”. If as a result of the tests the data seem threatening, it will be proposed to undergo repeated analyzes. If they give the same result, additional studies will be conducted, as a result of which parents will be informed about percentage probability certain deviations in the development of the baby. The possibility of conducting more dangerous studies, as well as the further fate of the baby, will be discussed and decided only by parents. Specialists will give all the necessary explanations.
