I went to chat to the consultant today about tests for downs taking boyfriend with me as back up brain.. Untested, my risk of having a downs baby are 1:365. The choices I have are:
- Nuchal scan and blood test combined (OSCAR) at 10 weeks (not free on NHS so costing £170) – this will give me an assessment of the risk that the foetus has downs but is not conclusive and results can be misleading (10% error rate)
- Blood test at 15 weeks – same as OSCAR but 70% effective at picking up downs
- CVS at 11+ weeks – carries 1% risk of miscarriage but the results are definate – results back in 3 days for initial assessment then a wait of a week for the confirmed results, also there is some documentation about foetal deformities if done badly.
- Amnio at 17+ weeks – carries a 1% risk of M/C and results take 3 weeks.
My original thinking is to go for the blood test and think about a CVS depending on the results, but when I find out that the blood test is not that accurate I opt straight for the CVS, I need to know conclusively if it is ok.
I have booked in for a CVS on week 13 – 3 weeks away. I decided that I needed definite results as I would terminate if it had downs (sorry if that offends anyone but I have a downs syndrome sister so have close experience of downs kids). The nuchal scan and the blood test seem a bit non conclusive for me.
I have met the consultant who will do the deed but the hospital will not give out figures for each doctor, they say that overall they have a 1% risk of M/C.
My test for diabetes came back negative and the consultant said that excessive thirst is perfectly normal for pregnant women – she also said something about us having more blood in our bodies but I can’t remember the details. Still wish that I could get through the night without having a drink of water as its knock on effect is that I wake up again to wee it out. Joy!
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