How Accurate Is The Downs Syndrome Blood Test In Pregnancy?
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010Ive been told to decide if i want the blood test for downs at 16 weeks. Ive heard its not very accurate and gives false high risk results quite often (my friend had one, she had another blood test to be sure and it turns out she wasn’t high risk).
I still don’t know if to have it or not as im young (20) and i don’t want the unnecessary worry of a false high risk result, we worry enough in pregnancy!
Does anybody know how accurate it is??
I have googled it but it seems to be different numbers on different sites.
Thanks!
Joey Jr born 6/19/09! says:
February 10th, 2010
3:58 pm
This is taken from the paperwork my Dr. gave me on the screening.
16 week blood test:
1. Picks up about 60% of all babies with Down Syndrome.
2. It is the most well known but is falling out of favor
3. involved testing the maternal blood
4. High false positive rate (the screening test is abnormal but there is nothing wrong with the fetus) Can increase the mother’s anxiety.
5. Covered by almost all insurances
You have to weigh the pros and cons and decide what is best for you. My sister never gets this test done because she says she rather not worry for the rest of the pregnancy and just deal with it when the time comes. My Dr. offers another test that starts at 12 weeks and includes a blood test and an ultra sound and pick up 90% of down syndrome cases and then they do the 16 week test and combine the results from the 12 week with the 16 week for a more accurate result. I’m the type of person who has to know exactly what I am dealing with and prepare for it so I opted to take the test.
saved_as… says:
February 10th, 2010
9:57 pm
If you are young and the father is young then you should be low risk for Downs. Scans will show tell-tale signs but obviously not until further on the the pregnancy. I have heard the blood test can give a false positive – for instance if you are carrying twins. I believe the test looks for HCG levels which are higher with multiple pregnancy and in Downs. I was offered this test with all three of mine – last pregnancy at 35 – I didn’t have the test done and they were all fine. They put a lot of pressure on us don’t they!
Anonymous says:
February 11th, 2010
2:10 am
If you are talking about the AFP test, then yes, it gives many false positives. With my first, the result were that i was at a high risk of having a baby with Down Syndrome….it was wrong. My son is healthy as can be. With my second pregnancy, the result said I am at a high risk for a NTD (Nueral Tube defect)….wrong again. My baby girl is just fine.
You can take the test if you want…it is not mandatory, just realize that it is only a screening…meaning you “Chances of having problems” is increased, not that there is anything wrong with your baby.
Hope this helps
Expecting Emma April 2009 says:
February 11th, 2010
7:07 am
I accepted all test that needed to be done for DS and cystic Fibrosis and all that because I would rather know if I was a risk at all or in the clear completely. None of these problems run in my husband or my family so we aren’t too worried about it. BUT I would rather know ahead of time if I’m at high risk so I could prepare myself instead of having the baby and finding out it has one of these problems. I think I would be more stressed out and worried if I found out after it was born versus before.
Baby Evan Born July 30th! says:
February 11th, 2010
12:50 pm
It is not accurate at all I 6mo pregnant and I had was going to go have it done, but you would just worry about it your whole pregnancy, and like u said you have enough to worry about already, so i would not get it done, plus you could have it done and it come back that something is wrong and then you have the baby and noting be wrong, so why put yourself through that for 7 more mo…. good luck
Angela H says:
February 11th, 2010
2:24 pm
Hi, I got offered one and thought I might as well because I get to have another scan as well, so I just did it to get the oppurtunity to see our baby again.
If your someone who is going to worry loads then I wouldnt get one, but we decided that even if I was high risk – what would be would be and its better to be prepared then not.
Anonymous says:
February 11th, 2010
5:59 pm
i got booked for one but the day of my appointment i couldnt go through it with!
im young myself (im 18) so my chances are 1 in 1555 so its very unlikely but if i was high risk i couldnt risk having that other test that can cause a miscarriage as i dont want to lose my baby but that means if i was high risk i would worry everyday form that point onwards and wouldnt be able to enjoy my pregnancy.
ma???ew and ?o???e? m?mm?. ? says:
February 11th, 2010
9:39 pm
Your reasoning is one of the many reasons I chose not to have it done. What good would the results be anyway?
As far as I understand it’s not extremely accurate on positive or negative results. It’s only accurate for a fairly small percentage of women. I’m unsure of exact numbers, I found the same as you.
Melissa S says:
February 12th, 2010
12:53 am
The tests are not near 100%. If you aren’t over 35 the only other reason to do it is if Downs runs in your family. My 1st Ob/gyn was insistant I have a amnio. we agreed to do this (non-invasive) and if it came back with bad news I would only then do the amnio. –I did switch Dr’s (no one will make me abort my baby) Test was fine. I wouldn’t, as it won’t change your mind anyhow. You are young and healthy, I would not worry about doing the test.
Dalton's Mommy & Kaiah due 2 says:
February 12th, 2010
2:09 am
well you should definetly have one because if you are at risk then they will monitor your pregnancy closer.. its just a blood test where they take an extra tube of blood when you already given them a bunch.. you might as well add one more for safety..age isnt the only determination of down syndrome.
although if it does come back high risk factor dont be too alarmed caz its mostly just a statistic but still a good idea to have.. most women who have children with down syndrome do test high in the risk factor during pregnancy.
Dalton's Mommy & Kaiah due 2 says:
February 12th, 2010
2:09 am
well you should definetly have one because if you are at risk then they will monitor your pregnancy closer.. its just a blood test where they take an extra tube of blood when you already given them a bunch.. you might as well add one more for safety..age isnt the only determination of down syndrome.
although if it does come back high risk factor dont be too alarmed caz its mostly just a statistic but still a good idea to have.. most women who have children with down syndrome do test high in the risk factor during pregnancy.
I love my little ladybug <3 says:
February 12th, 2010
5:21 am
hi no it is not very accurate it is an estimate and that’s it my dumb asss dr i had before with my last son said my son had it and i didnt even get the test! and nor would i because i see no reason in worrying about something that is not 100% accurate and i will not do it with this lil boy either but that’s my opinion.
I love my little ladybug <3 says:
February 12th, 2010
5:21 am
hi no it is not very accurate it is an estimate and that’s it my dumb asss dr i had before with my last son said my son had it and i didnt even get the test! and nor would i because i see no reason in worrying about something that is not 100% accurate and i will not do it with this lil boy either but that’s my opinion.
i love my hubby and son's says:
February 12th, 2010
6:01 am
I never got the test because my dr said they only give you a ratio. Like a 3 in 100 chance etc. Its not very reliable so I didn’t even bother, it just causes you to worry more if a higher number appears.
New Mamma says:
February 12th, 2010
8:39 am
Not accurate at all. A friend of mine was also told her baby had Downs Syndrome, and he was born without it. Stressful hearing while you are pregnant your child will be born with it for no reason!
~?~ Steve's girl ~?~ says:
February 12th, 2010
10:30 am
That test caused me a lot of extra test. It came back positive and my son was born without Downs. I would never take it again.
mrs06chr says:
February 12th, 2010
12:35 pm
It is called an amniocentesis and there is a small risk of M/C. We are choosing not to have it done because we will keep and love whatever god gives us.
tooter says:
February 12th, 2010
6:08 pm
hi its not very accurate i know someone who had it twice and said there was a high risk in both but they turned out fine
Sarah R says:
February 12th, 2010
11:42 pm
hi no blood tests are 100% but if worried you can have amniocenteses
which is 99 % correct early 20s is not a hi risk but that dose not mean it wont … but no its not very accurate
my daughters was hi mine was low i was the one that had a son with down syndrome and my daughter son was a ok so inless you are over worrid and they pick a problem up on scan then no i would not worrie at all hun afp test are only a indecator …… and that is wrong so often … but dose give the doctors a chance to look in right direction ..
nutteror says:
February 13th, 2010
5:16 am
hi,
My midwife told me it is 65% accurate while the nt scan in conjunction with the blood test is 90% accurate. Anyway, in terms of ‘false’ high risk results, I don’t see how it can happen! all the test does is calculate your risk of having a Down syndrom’s baby. A high risk is anything above a 1 in 250 risk. All those 250 women will be told they are high risk but only one will actually have a Down syndrom baby. The risk factor is just that, a risk factor! Therefore they are NOT FALSE results! You are high risk but your baby is still fine because you still have 249 chances in 250 to have a healthy baby.To get a definite answer,you need an amniosynthesis or CV sampling but since these tests are invasive and carry a 1% rik of miscarriage, it is worth calculating how at risk the baby is in the first place.
I hope this helps. All I would say is, would it change anything if your results came back as high risk? Would you have an amniosynthesis%
kittymif says:
February 13th, 2010
11:05 am
I had it done at 12 weeks… it was no biggie… my dr said that I have a 1 in 1098 chance of having a child with ds and that the average numbers are 1 in 950… I was totally bugging out about having to get it done but it turned out to be no big deal. I got to see my babies and they pricked my finger for the blood… I am now 16 weeks and they are taking blood in 2 weeks and then I just have the normal 20 week scan but the dr said this round of blood work and scans have something to do with spina bifida but they test for that in the ds screening too… So try not to worry… I thought I was going to have a panic attack worrying about it.