[Natttmumm]

So we had our 12 week scan the other day and the scan went really well. We were told bub looked great. After that we saw the doc to get the risk numbers and it came out that the blood tests were not great so risk ended up 1 in 398. We were told it was borderline low risk and not to worry. Well of course we are worried when our previous pregnancies have had numbers like 1 in 15000. We have decided to go for the amnio even tHought the obyn told us he would be shocked if the results were bad.
What I am unsure about is why would the blood test results be bad if Downs seems so unlikely could it be something else wrong other than Downs that an amnio will miss. We will ask this to the obyn but have to wait a week to see him.

[AllegraM]

OP, my NT result was 1/84 with perfect scan and 'bad' bloods. My OB told me at the time that while there were no guarantees, he was always much happier seeing a good scan/'bad' bloods than the opposite or having both bad.

I had the amnio which was very straightforward and all was clear. Good luck- it does out a dampener on things for a while so try not to dwell on it, as hard as that can be.

[soontobegran]

They really are not bad results Natttmumm but I do understand your concern.
If your scan was good and nuchal fold/nasal bone and everything else ok then the risk of there being an abnormality are low.
I don't know how old you are OP but every year of age raises the risk on paper significantly. Many people will have a NT result in the thousands for one healthy pregnancy and low hundreds for the subsequent ones and it is quite simply because of age.

Personally I wouldn't have an amnio with those results but you must do what feels right for you.
Good luck.

[deedee15]

How much older are you now, than when you were previously pregnant? The age factor will affect the blood results.

[Lainskii]

Lots of things can be affected by your blood results. Do you know which of the bloods was bad?

I had same issue, risk was really good on just scan, really bad when combined because of my PAPPA level in blood test.
Had the amnio and everything is ok but I'm considered high risk because of the bloods. Low PAPPA can lead to diabetes, still birth, prem babies (my first was prem) low birth weight etc.

Your risk isn't too bad, mine was worse for my first and we didn't do anything as the risk was still lower than the amnio risk for miscarriage and everything worked out fine for that pregnancy as well.

Good luck with the amnio and the rest of your pregnancy.

This post has been edited by Lainskii: 04/08/2012, 08:48 PM

[Miso_Missieys]

I don't know how long they have been doing this blood results along with nuchal scan in Australia but in NZ its just been bought in, in the last couple of years. For this reason I would only be concerned if the scan was high risk or if my caregiver was concerned. It's so hard though not to worry about our unborn child. It's obviously all your decision but my understanding is the amnio is quite a risky procedure so make sure you are 100% before going in. Good luck with whatever you decide and take care.

[MummyIHK]

Hi,

I was 26 when pregnant with mu last bub and my risk for DS came back at 1/264 (which was very high for my age). I had a good scan but 'bad' blood results, low papp-a and high beta HCG (HCG was 5 times my papp-a, normal is about double I believe). We had an amnio at 15+4 and all came back fine, however as per PP from then we were stressed that a low papp-a may suggest a small bub on board, well bub was born at 38+6 (via 'elective'c-section) weighing in at a very healthy 9lbs6oz.

I hope you have an outcome as great as mine.

[MahnaMahna]

There is nothing we can say that will make you stress less but those results are not too bad OP.

With my most recent pregnancy I had odds of 1/194. The scan was perfect, the bloods were not.

I had the amnio and our baby boy is fine.

Those results actually come down to a 0.25% chance OP, pretty good odds. Not even a quarter of a percent and you had a great scan, things are looking good

If the amnio will set your mind at ease for the rest of the pregnancy then IMO you should have it. I know I could not of enjoyed my pregnancy without it.

[Oriental lily]

My sister had a fantastic 12 week scan but combined with bloods got a 1-24 chance of DS.

I decided to do a bit of 'research'' ( google) just to see if I could find anything to ease her mind.

Well my sisters pregnancy was a twin pregnancy. Saw two healthy looking heartbeats in her six week scan but one had passed away at 8 weeks scan.

They described this as a vanishing twin pregnancy and even though the body naturally absorbs the twin that passed away it can effect the blood levels that are measured during the blood screening for genetic abnormalities.

Vanishing twin pregnancies are not suitable for ths screening. The problem is that many woman don't know about vanishing twins. Sometimes scans don't pick it up.

So this could be a reason for abnormal readings in otherwise normal healthy foetuses.

All this was in a medical journal that I printed out for my sister. She brought it along to her next appointment and it was all new news for her OB.

However she still went ahead with the amino and got all clear results and now has a very healthy nearly five year old daughter.

So yes op things can cause false high readings that is not widely known.

A vanishing twin is just one of them.

But getting the amino and clear result as gave my sister great peace of mind.

Just like it will for you.

[Mum2TwoDSs]

My BT also came back having weird readings and I got a 1:95. I did amnio too and baby is fine. I am sure your baby is fine but if you want to do an amnio, that would best test to confirm about baby.

I also read that NT tests for twins are not accurate.