Did/Are you getting this screening done?

[pinotgrig]

Just got back from my 17 week appt (will be 17 weeks tomorrow!). No u/s this time, just a heartbeat check, which was great at 148bpm.

We got the option to do a blood test which tests for spina bifada markers and may be correlated to Downs, as well. Test must be done by 20 weeks. Our insurance may or may not cover (they basically said they would decide when they got it). The test costs a few hundred bucks and we don't mind to pay out if pocket. Our NT scan looked great and the bloodwork from that came back in the lowest risk category. Ob said that he would be fine skipping if we were ok with it, b/c the NT scan usually shows any spina bifida issues. The odds of delivering with spina bifida without knowing ahead of time are low since it's so easily seen on u/s. Test also has a somewhat high rate of false positives.

Wwyd? On the one hand, I feel like it's ok to skip. On the other, I'm not sure I want to take that chance. But I don't want to deal with the unnecessary stress of a false positive and the resulting testing that would incur.

[VillainV]

We skipped the second Trimester screening because the NT results came back very low risk.

[pinotgrig]

Jan 9, 2014 13:22:45 GMT -5 VillainV said:

We skipped the second Trimester screening because the NT results came back very low risk.

Good to hear! Also, thanks for naming it - I thought he called the 2nd trimester screening but wasn't 100% sure.

[ringstrue]

I'm not one to suggest skipping screenings because I like for my doctor to have all the info they can get. BUT, if your doctor thinks he has enough info to not be concerned then it seems like it's NBD.

[VillainV]

Jan 9, 2014 13:25:10 GMT -5 pinotgrig said:

Jan 9, 2014 13:22:45 GMT -5 VillainV said:

We skipped the second Trimester screening because the NT results came back very low risk.

Good to hear! Also, thanks for naming it - I thought he called the 2nd trimester screening but wasn't 100% sure.

I think there might be a few different 2nd Tri screenings, but the one my OB office offers is called the Quad Screen -- it's a blood test that screens for 4 things -- Downs is one of them, but I don't remember what the other 3 are, so I'm not sure if it's the same one that your office offers :-)

[Deleted]

Jan 9, 2014 13:22:45 GMT -5 VillainV said:

We skipped the second Trimester screening because the NT results came back very low risk.

this. My dr did not recommend it.

[daisycat]

We did it since it was just a simple blood test, but I am AMA so we have gone with all the extra testing.

[kershnic]

It was not presented as optional to me. But I can't imagine turning down an available screening that is just a blood test.

[shelbyann]

Jan 9, 2014 13:22:45 GMT -5 VillainV said:

We skipped the second Trimester screening because the NT results came back very low risk.

This is what we did as well.

[stealthmom]

With all the factors you listed, no. I would just make sure they look carefully at the spine during any us.

[earlgreyhot]

I can't remember if I did that or not my first pregnancy. I want to say that I might have.

I may opt out this time since I am doing both the NT Scan and Verifi and will have pretty good idea of what's going on. Spina Bifida would show on the anatomy scan anyway so I feel pretty comfortable waiting until then.

[statlerwaldorf]

We are going to skip it since our NT scan came back as very low risk. That's what my ob/gyn recommended.

[greencrayon]

They didn't offer it to us. We did the nt scan and everything seemed to be ok, so maybe they didn't feel the need to offer it.

[Deleted]

Are you talking about the harmony/M21? I did take that test, but did not do an NT scan. I am AMA (barely, just turned 35), so it was recommended and covered by insurance.

[pinotgrig]

Jan 10, 2014 8:09:24 GMT -5 @mjmksb04 said:

Are you talking about the harmony/M21? I did take that test, but did not do an NT scan. I am AMA (barely, just turned 35), so it was recommended and covered by insurance.

No, this a different test focused mainly on spina bifida.

[pinotgrig]

Jan 9, 2014 16:55:43 GMT -5 kershnic said:

It was not presented as optional to me. But I can't imagine turning down an available screening that is just a blood test.

This was my thought additionally too - more info is always better. But this test has a high rate of false positives and tests for something that should be visible by u/s.

[kershnic]

Jan 10, 2014 8:21:22 GMT -5 pinotgrig said:

Jan 9, 2014 16:55:43 GMT -5 kershnic said:

It was not presented as optional to me. But I can't imagine turning down an available screening that is just a blood test.

This was my thought additionally too - more info is always better. But this test has a high rate of false positives and tests for something that should be visible by u/s.

I'm not sure if it's the quad screen (that's what they called the one I did), but at my doctor it was presented as the 2nd part of the NT scan.  If it was truly redundant of the NT scan and accompanied bloodwork I don't think it would even exist.  That said - you never 100% know that everything will be fine with your baby, so all you can ever do is manage likelihood of risks.