Being Pregnant
First Trimester Screen?
This pamphlet was given to me at my first obgyn visit for this current pregnancy.
4 years ago, when I was pregnant with Jackson, I had a quad screen test done once I was nearing 20 weeks of pregnancy. Thankfully for us, my quad screen came back fine and we were blessed with a healthy baby boy 19 weeks later.
From my understanding, this test is common for pregnant women, and looks at four substances in your blood that may be able to help pinpoint whether or not the mother needs further testing to determine any chromosome abnormalities.
What I learned at my last obgyn appointment was that there is now a version of this test offered in the first trimester. And this test, this First Trimester Screen, should you choose to have it done, must be done before the mother reaches 13 weeks and 6 days.
I understand the importance of prenatal testing. The information received from the tests can be extremely helpful and certainly valuable in planning for the birth of the baby. The option of being able to proactively prepare, should you be carrying a child with a birth defect, can be important in so many ways.
To me, there is no distorting that. Those are the facts. Those are what the tests (should you choose to have them done) are able to do for you, as an expectant parent.
But, do you want to have the test done? Do you want to know?
And in the case of this test, do you want to know this information in the first trimester of your pregnancy?
As I am approaching my 13th week of pregnancy, I am asking myself these questions, educating myself as much as possible, and wondering if you were offered this test too. If so, did you have it done? Would you have it done?
The first trimester screen is not currently listed as a ‘medically necessary’ test to have done, therefore it is not covered by all insurance companies, and can be costly for some.
What are your experiences with these genetic tests that are offered?
Thank you in advance, for those of you who share your stories in the comments. I understand that discussing personal information, especially regarding your pregnancy (like genetic testing) can be difficult to do.
Go Back To Being Pregnant
10 Comments
Her from @6degreeslove commented on Oct 11 11 at 10:43 amI chose not to do the testing with either of my pregnancies. We’d decided that no matter what the outcome, we would deal with it as the child came out. Whether that be perfectly healthy, or severely disordered–we’d be blessed for whatever time we could get with our baby.
I was lucky, they were both very healthy. And continue to be. But in my experience speaking with women that have experienced every sort of health on the spectrum, it seems that any amount of time with their child, either painfully short or an entire lifetime, wouldn’t regret a minute.
PrincessJenn commented on Oct 11 11 at 10:45 amWe opted not to do any screening or testing when I was pregnant with V. We knew that, no matter what the tests said, we wouldn’t abort the pregnancy. If they did find something, I didn’t want to spend the whole pregnancy worrying and playing the ‘what if’ game.
And those tests don’t guarantee you a healthy baby either. Even if we had tested, none of V’s issues and special needs would have shown up on those tests.
Ann commented on Oct 11 11 at 10:47 amI didn’t have the first trimester screen done during my first pregnancy. Our thought process was that we were young, healthy, and the results wouldn’t change the way we handled the pregnancy. At the 18 week ultrasound the fetus was identified as having triploidy, a serious chromosomal abnormality that results in either second trimester miscarriage (very dangerous), stillbirth, or D&C. Undergoing a D&C at that point, after I thought we had passed the “danger zone,” was devastating. If we had had the first trimester screen, the problems would have been identified earlier on.
That’s my long-winded way of saying that we had the first trimester (13 week) and 20 week ultrasound and screening with this pregnancy and were very relieved to hear that everything looked fine.
erniebufflo commented on Oct 11 11 at 1:12 pmI’m really thankful that my OB offers the test, and that it’s available when procuring a termination would still be relatively easy: in the first trimester. The way I see it, giving people more options to be informed and to make the best choices for their lives and their families are always a positive. However, we knew we would not terminate for any of the conditions the test screens for, so we didn’t get it. My OB said my insurance doesn’t fully cover it for women under 35, so it’s only “worth it” to get it if you absolutely plan to terminate for a positive result. The only genetic testing we will be pursuing is to find out if my husband is a Cystic Fibrosis carrier, because he has a family history of it.
mybottlesup commented on Oct 11 11 at 1:53 pm@ERNIEBUFFLO- good luck with your husband’s testing.
Michelle commented on Oct 12 11 at 6:56 amThere are many issues that can be discovered via this test that can be treated/managed prenatally with surgery or medication. So I strongly disagree that it is “only worth it” as described above.
silky04 commented on Oct 13 11 at 5:44 amYoga is a non-impact activity, which can nourish the tissues of the mother and baby in a gentle way. The stretching exercises make the muscles limber and warm, especially helpful when a woman is pregnant. Yoga can be used therapeutically to relieve the associated health problems of the mother.
Read out more at: http://www.divinewellness.com/yoga/applications-of-yoga/yoga-for-women/yoga-for-pregnant-women/
Nadia commented on Oct 13 11 at 11:45 amI would absolutely have it done! It would not change my pregnancy at all, as I would keep and love my baby either way. But, I would definitely want to know. That way, if there was something wrong, it wouldn’t come as a shock when the baby is born, and I would be able to show her all of my love, with no shock to temper it!
http://www.fitandpreggers.com
Jim commented on Oct 14 11 at 10:38 pmWe didn’t do any of those screenings for our two pregnancies. As others above noted, terminating the pregnancy wasn’t an option for us. But the bigger reason was the false-positive rate. A positive test in the first trimester means you have a 0.33-1.00% chance of having a child with a chromosomal abnormality … and the second trimester tests are even less accurate than that. With an accuracy rate that low, and with no other contributing factors, we saw no need to perform the test.
Audrey commented on Nov 12 11 at 11:59 amActually you can’t get a “false positive” with first-trimester screening — it will give you a higher or lower risk for trisomy 13, 18 and 21 (down syndrome). If you are thought to have a higher than 1 in 250 (or something like that) risk, they’ll flag your score (“screen positive”) and you should meet with a genetic counselor to discuss options (invasive testing like amniocentesis or CVS or just more monitoring, like more frequent/earlier anatomy scans on ultrasound, to check on the baby’s development). But even if you “screen positive”, this just means the baby has a higher chance of having one of the 3 conditions — so if the test says the risk for Down Syndrome is 1 in 50, that means there is still a 49/50 chance the baby to not have Down Syndrome.
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Aela Mass 
Casi Densmore-Koon 
Rebekah Kuschmider .jpg)
CaitlinHTP (Caitlin Boyle) 
Michelle Horton 
Ceridwen Morris 
Katie 
Devan McGuinness 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
10