Hey girls,

Just received the date through for our Nuchal dating scan, for just over three weeks time. Problem is, I didn't expect our local hospital to do them, so hadn't really considered it. When we saw the midwife, we had to make such a snap decision, and now I am not so sure. I know we can change our minds. I just wondered if I could ask what you would do / have done?

If you wern't offered one, do you wish you had of been? Also, if you chose not to find out, why did you make that decision?

I am in a bit of turmoil about this, so anything you can do you help would be lovely

It's hard to know in reality what you would do if faced with a difficult decision after finding out that your baby might have developmental, or even life threatening problems, but that being said, if you and your partner are largely convinced that you can and will work through whatever the results from the test are, then go for it.

The screening done at 12 weeks doesn't tell you anything definite. All it tells you is what your chances are for maybe having problems. Even a 1 in 5 chance only means that your baby MAY have problems if they are that #1. From there, you can decide to do further testing, or just go with whatever happens. You will get to see your little one during the scan though, and for my husband and I, the peace of mind made it totally worth doing.

I wasnt offerd one, If i was i wouldnt have taken it, its the same with the 16 week blood tests i didnt want them.
I was asked over and over again if i wanted them and i said no every time i was asked if i was sure over and over again and i told them YES im sure i dont want them.
When i went for my 20 week scan the woman asked me if i'd had the blood tests i told her no - to which she replyed "you do know if i see anything wrong today i do have too tell you?" I didnt mind that i mean it wouldnt change my views on my baby at all.
The reason i didnt want anything like that simply is because they cant tell you YES the baby has this or that and they cant tell you 100% NO. I would hate the thought of it coming back saying theres a high chance the baby will have a problem with it but we cant tell you for sure, whats that going too do? make you worry for the next 20+ weeks about the baby then when it comes down to it its born and its perfectly healthy? No thanks not for me!
I know that still means theres a chance he Could have some problems but id rarther deal with that when it came to it because i'll love him no matter what, Knowing wouldnt change my feelings towards him it would just make me worry and probably enjoy my pregnancy less!

i paid £193 4 mine. was combined nuchal scan and bloods. am still waiting 4 results coz the bloods take a week. i had one done with my last pregnancy and was given a risk of 1 in 10,000 which is really low risk and so it gave me great peace of mind, though of course at the end of the day it is a risk factor and can't tell u 4 sure but i would do it again (and i have this time round). if it turns out 2 be high risk then i think it is better 2 know than 2 bury your head in the sand. but that is just my opinion. my measurement was 1.4mm and dr said there didn't appear 2 be anything suspicious.

I'm having it done! Not because I want to find out how high the risk for my baby having DS but cause I had a normal dating scan nearly 3 years ago and I was in and out within 5 minutes they couldn't wait for me to leave. I'm seeing this as an opportunity to have a longer look and bond with baby! I already told them I will not have the blood tests done, as I wouldn't opt for an amnio if it came back high risk. This might sounds selfish but I told OH that I'm having this baby even if it's got DS or anything else. I love my baby so much I couldn't get rid of it. I will also have th 20 week scan which you can also decide not to have just because I love the scans and it really made me bond with my DD even more back then. Plus if they find anything wrong then I can be prepared for it!

I think you should decide what you would do if it came back high risk, if the answer is nothing then you might as well not have it, or just have the scan but not the bloods and just enjoy looking at your baby longer. If you wouldn't be able to live with a baby that was disabled then it would be best to go for it... but even if you rule out everything by amnio there is unfortunetely never a garantee for a healthy baby. Some things they can't test for. Unfortunetely this is a risk we all have to take when getting pregnant.

I don't want to upset anyone with my post, I think this is a very personal decision for everyone to make. And I could not imagine testing for these abnormalities as I wouldn't take any consequences if any of the tests came back positive. With DD they only offered the blood tests and I didn't want them as there would be no gain for me knowing what my chances might me of having a baby with DS. I wouldn't have gone for further testing anyway. With amnio there is a higher risk of miscarring I would never take that.

Hope you will be happy whatever decision you make!

xxxx

sorry it posted my reply twice!

I was in the same position as you - as it was offered I had to make a snap decision there and then... It turned out that my results were high risk which was absolutely gut wrenching... then to make matters worse we had to decide to have a CVS or amnio. I can honestly say it was the most stressful 48 hours of my life.!! We went to have the CVS done knowing their was a risk of miscarriage with the procedure (this is what did my head in the most, the risk I was choosing to put on my baby) - when we had the scan and saw baby, we couldnt go through with it.. was just too great a risk and at the end of the day we wouldnt have decided other than to go to term if we had been told baby had DS..

Personally, I wish I hadnt had the tests - I am having a detailed 20 week scan next week to look for soft markers for DS and we will leave it at that, whatever the results are... but considering I had the results for the Nuchal back 8 weeks ago - that means I have had 8 weeks of worry I probably could have avoided.. It is such a personal decision but I wanted to add my two pennies worth as it you sound much the same as me in your decision process already x

I can't help but think that having the knowledge makes you a bit better prepared. You can put in place things and get yourself in the right frame of mind. Yes, I probably would be extremely anxious if I found something wrong, but I think that I would rather know now, than later. xx

Thanks so much for your points of view girls. It's bloody difficult this one isn't it?! Really appreciate your support

I would consider having the one at 12 weeks, or talking to your Dr. to see if there is any way you can work around the dates. Dr.'s are always a bit surprise when we know what we're talking about like that.

What would you do if the nuchal fold was measured and was abnormal? That's another thing I would consider. Are you going to have the AFP test or other diagnostics? If so, I would not worry as much about the scan. Maybe. ;-)