I know there is the dating scan. Is the same as the nuchal scan or done at a different time? Also included in the nuchal scan is there a test they do on the baby and do you have to have it? Sorry I'm just not very ckear on whats involved and how it works.
Thanks.
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Part of me wishes they'd told me about the nuchal scan before I had it, so I could've opted out, as it caused us a lot of stress & heartache, probably unnecessarily.
I was told nuchal fold was thickened, but I refused any further tests. Have been having extra scans with a consultant though, & thankfully everything looks fine!!!!!!
One bonus of going privately is they spend ages looking at the scan so you get to see your lo loads! Mine took about half an hour and it was amazing to see our baby wriggling about and waving! Hope this helps xxxx
It's down to personal choice at the end of the day, but personally I didn't want to have an invasive test with a risk of miscarriage (however small).
Have a look at there website www.thelondonultrasoundcentre.co.uk to read up more about nuchal scans. I'd say they were definitely worth the money and now I have two healthy boys to prove it! lol
The Nuchal Translucency scan can be performed between 11+4 and 13+6. It measures the thickness of the fluid on the back of the baby's neck and this, combined with your age, and the age of the baby, will give you a statistical chance (like Sukina and the others have said) of your baby being born with a Down's. This is only a screening test though, and it is recognised that it only picks up about 70-80% of Down's babies accurately. If you fall into the high risk group (anything from 1:1 to 1:250) then you will be offered a diagnostic test - i.e. an invasive test mentioned about. CVS can be carried out from about 12 weeks I think, but you usually have to wait until around 16 weeks for an amnio. Results come back within 48 hours and will give you a yes or no answer as to whether your baby has Down's, Edward's or Patau's syndrome, and will also tell you the sex of your baby (if you want to know). Both invasive tests come with a small risk of miscarriage - 0.7% for an amnio and 1% for CVS. This may change from hospital to hospital so it's worth asking about the results for your hospital if it's something you are considering.
I only know all of this as we paid to have a NT scan done privately, and the results put us in the high risk category (1:125 chance of Down's) - quite a shock to us as I'm only 28. We decided to have an amnio as a CVS would have been more difficult to do because of where my placenta lies. We got the results back in 24hours, and we are waiting for the full report (which analyses each set of chromosomes for any genetic abnormality) which takes around 3 weeks.
It's very much a personal decision as to wether you have a screening test, and then whether you have a diagnostic test. The amnio procedure was fully explained to us, and we watched the procedure on screen as it was being done. It was over very quickly, and the needle went nowhere near the baby. It was relatively painless too (hurt more having bloods taken!).
Hope this is useful!