What would you do.....?
Hey ladies,
I've recently given birth to a gorgeous little boy who was diagnosed with Down's Syndrome soon after birth. We didn't have the screening done while I was pregnant - I'm only 28, and was definitely in the camp of 'it won't happen to us' - and so you can imagine our shock when we were given the diagnosis. George is now 9 weeks old and thriving, and has more than doubled his ickle birth weight of 4lbs 2oz, now being a strapping 8 and a half pounds!
Hubby and I went to see the gynaecologist this week to discuss the diagnosis and my pregnancy. I'd had what appeared a perfect pregnancy (no morning sickness, bleeding or anything) and there was no hint of a problem with the baby's size until I was literally in the delivery suite when the midwife commented on how small my bump was. After the whole Down's thing, we were convinced that the hospital were going to more or less insist on screening in future pregnancies - however, after chatting at length to this very nice man, he basically said that, although I would be monitored a lot more closely with growth scans next time, the issue of whether we had screening done or not would be entirely up to us.
The type of Down's that George has is just the random one that will affect 1 in every 1100 pregnancies - and so, in theory, the chance of conceiving another baby with Down's is pretty much the same as a Mum who hasn't had a Down's baby. There's still a 98.9% chance that another baby would be 'normal' (for want of a better word). We turned the screening down last time because of the risk of miscarriage - and part of me would still not want it again for the same reason. Luckily George does not have any of the major health problems (e.g. heart defects) associated with the syndrome, yet we think we've just been lucky in that respect. I just don't think that I could go through with the screening, knowing that it may lead to a possible termination - at 20 weeks, when you basically have to go through the whole labour to give birth to a dead baby.
So, what I want to ask is - in our situation, what would you do? Would you go ahead with the screening, or just leave things to chance and hope for the best? Don't get me wrong, I love George more than anything in the world, and we wouldn't swap him for anything - it's just one of those things that I'm not sure I could go through again. So what would you do?
Sarah x
I've recently given birth to a gorgeous little boy who was diagnosed with Down's Syndrome soon after birth. We didn't have the screening done while I was pregnant - I'm only 28, and was definitely in the camp of 'it won't happen to us' - and so you can imagine our shock when we were given the diagnosis. George is now 9 weeks old and thriving, and has more than doubled his ickle birth weight of 4lbs 2oz, now being a strapping 8 and a half pounds!
Hubby and I went to see the gynaecologist this week to discuss the diagnosis and my pregnancy. I'd had what appeared a perfect pregnancy (no morning sickness, bleeding or anything) and there was no hint of a problem with the baby's size until I was literally in the delivery suite when the midwife commented on how small my bump was. After the whole Down's thing, we were convinced that the hospital were going to more or less insist on screening in future pregnancies - however, after chatting at length to this very nice man, he basically said that, although I would be monitored a lot more closely with growth scans next time, the issue of whether we had screening done or not would be entirely up to us.
The type of Down's that George has is just the random one that will affect 1 in every 1100 pregnancies - and so, in theory, the chance of conceiving another baby with Down's is pretty much the same as a Mum who hasn't had a Down's baby. There's still a 98.9% chance that another baby would be 'normal' (for want of a better word). We turned the screening down last time because of the risk of miscarriage - and part of me would still not want it again for the same reason. Luckily George does not have any of the major health problems (e.g. heart defects) associated with the syndrome, yet we think we've just been lucky in that respect. I just don't think that I could go through with the screening, knowing that it may lead to a possible termination - at 20 weeks, when you basically have to go through the whole labour to give birth to a dead baby.
So, what I want to ask is - in our situation, what would you do? Would you go ahead with the screening, or just leave things to chance and hope for the best? Don't get me wrong, I love George more than anything in the world, and we wouldn't swap him for anything - it's just one of those things that I'm not sure I could go through again. So what would you do?
Sarah x
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Replies
susan x
my mum had a downs daughter at the age of just 22 after having me,this was a very big shock.my mum also went on to have 2 other heathly children after my sister.
ive had 5 kids and now expecting twins and not had any tests done with any as i feel i wouldnt teminate anyway.
my sister is 30 now and as far as poss we are lucky she does have some quality of life can walk a little ,at the time when she was 2she was on the downs record for the youngest downs child to walk,even tho she hates walking now lol.
mandy x