My son was born 7 months ago with no signs of the condition having had a 79% result in my blood tests, i do want another child but my partner and family were devestated at the thought that he might have had downs. If i have another child am i likely to get high results again or a higher risk of baby having downs? Anyone have any experiences like this or have any information?

I have worked with disabled people and children for years so feel i would be able to raise a child with the condition but as mentioned above my partner and his family were talking about terminations as they have no experience of this and i think are embarassed by it, do you think they are right in their opinions or are they a minority?

sorry if any of the above sounds offensive i dont mean it to be

Sam

Hey hunni my youngest sis has downs. My mum had her when she was 23 and had no idea til the day after she was born when the consultant told my mum " to leave the baby and put her in a home, as she had 2 other kids to think about and still young enough to try again" pretty shocking and that was 1991.

I think people who havent met or worked with disabled kids/adults have a very different view compared to those who do. Many older people are negative with downs kids, my mum had grannies coming up to her in the street saying children like "that" shouldnt be born and others telling her my sister would die young, never walk/talk or go to school. The attitude proberly comes from the fact that a lot of disabled kids lived in institutions back and their day and where seen as being "different. In this day and age disabilitys are more acceptable as people with disabilitys live in the community now and people know a bit more these days than the dinosaur ages.

There has been a slight decline in the rate of downs (this is reckoned to be down to prenatal screening) not sure of figures exactly here.

Sorry for waffling on here bit tired from my early shift lol

Also just because you had high readings in your last pregnancy doesnt neccessary mean you will with your next. Take care x

Hi

I have a four year old with Down's Syndrome, and have since had another son and am pregnant agin. officially the doctors will tell you that if you've had a child with DS you have a 1-100 chance of having another, but this is a meaningless statistic. DS is a random event. It is not carried genetically. So basically you have no more chance of having a high result this time as anyone else.

If you are worried though - a small study in America found that some women who had babies with Ds processed Folic Acid slightly differently and they recommended taking a B6 vitamin as well - you should be able to find this study online though I can't remember what it is called. In short taking a pregnancy multivitamin might help better than folic acid - but am not sure - the study was very small.

Obviously because of the circles i move in I know LOTS and LOTS of parents with children with Ds and (apart from twins) I do not know anyone who has had 2 children with DS - its that unusual.

Hope that sets your mind at rest.

You should also bear in mind that the blood tests/amnios aren't 100% positive. Its one of the reasons they are going to phase in a more accurate test.

Thank you both for your replies, they have been very helpfull

Sam x

I found references to a study in The Lancet in 2003 which trialled high doses of folic acid (5mg) to try to prevent Down's as there was some thought that it could be linked with spina bifida tendency on families due to folic acid metabolism being not as effective in some women. I am still waiting for results to see if my son has translocation (hereditary) down's or just a random occurrence but I will be talking to the consultant about folic acid. If it's not dangerous, I am going to try it as I want to TTC soon for a brother or sister for Logan.

I know its entirely different but since Tegan has Spina Bifida I have to take a 5mg dose of Folic Acid tor educe the risk of our next baby having Sb - it reduces it from a 1 in 100 risk to statistically a 1 in 10,000 risk (lower than the general population), but IMO most statistics are tosh anyway and Tegan was also a random event.

Not good advice, I know but I really hope any subsequent pregnancies for you ladies go perfectly well with healthy LO's at the end

I have a 9 year old with Down Syndrome. I am planning to try for another in January. My test came back all fine. I do know how you feel about your inlaws being the way they are. When I called my mom to tell her (shortly after giving birth) and told her the DR thought Briar had DS her exact words were "you dont want a child with down syndrome!" I thought so what am I going to do take him to walmart and get a refund. I mean come on! BUT a lot of that just comes from lack of knowledge. Sorry probally did not answer your question.