You can get this test starting at 10 weeks, but it’s mainly used for women who are more likely to have a baby with Down syndrome. This test looks at that DNA for signs of Down syndrome. DNA is what your genes are made of, and some DNA from the fetus ends up in the mother’s blood.
If you want to be a little more certain of the results, you’d get this test instead of just the first trimester combined test.Ĭell free DNA. Then, during weeks 15-22, you get another blood test called the “quad screen.” It looks for four different markers that could be signs of Down syndrome. The first one is just like the first trimester combined test. For this one, you get two tests taken at different times. Ultrasound looks at the fluid in an area of the baby’s neck called the “nuchal fold.” If the fluid level is higher than normal, it could be a sign of Down syndrome.A blood test looks for what doctors call “markers,” meaning proteins, hormones, or other substances that could be a sign of Down syndrome.You typically get this one sometime between the 11th and 14th week of pregnancy. There are a few types of screening tests you can get.įirst trimester combined test. If you’re not sure what to do, your doctor or a genetic counselor can help. Some parents want to find out because they feel it will help them get ready. It’s your choice which tests to get, and you don’t have to get any of them. These tests should be conducted alongside prenatal counseling to understand their results. Then, if it looks like Down syndrome is a possibility, you might get a diagnostic test. Typically, you might start with a screening test.
Screening tests don’t give you a definite answer, but diagnostic tests have a small risk of causing a miscarriage. There are pros and cons to both types of tests. Diagnostic tests tell if your baby actually has it - it’s a clear yes or no.For example, you may find out that there’s a 1 in 100 chance that your baby has it. Screening tests tell you how likely it is that your baby has Down syndrome.Your doctor will also look for any problems, so you can catch and treat them as early as possible.ĭuring the first trimester of pregnancy, there are two types of tests you can get to check for any problems with the fetus:
You can ask questions about what to expect, and you’ll get advice on how to best care for yourself.
This segment aired on May 27, 2022.When you find out you’re pregnant, one of the best things you can do is start prenatal care - a series of routine visits with your doctor or a certified nurse midwife to check on the health of you and your baby. When the microphone was finally off, I put my head down on the desk and prayed that my children’s names would never be on such a list. I’ll never forget the day this week that I read on air the names of the children and teachers who died together in that 4th-grade classroom in Uvalde. How can it stop? These are questions I don’t want to ask anymore, if the answers will never come.Īnd how could it be that the only question that's easy to answer is, what happens if my baby never comes home from school? How could this happen? We’d ask, as if for the first time. Orlando.Īfter each of those massacres and countless others, journalists went out and asked the same questions of the same experts, wrote down the same responses from mostly the same politicians and visited a different set of grieving families. Instead, I am left to repeat the same conversations we had after Sandy Hook. And I’m not sure at all about that anymore. I used to think it could break down the barriers that people have when they disagree about something big like guns, abortion or immigration. I used to think my work as a journalist could help in situations like this. They woke up on Wednesday morning and knew the answer to that awful question. Our collective despair as a country will never be equal to the horror that 21 families in Uvalde are feeling today. When I compare what they looked like on the first day of school, my heart grows a size for each of them.īut like many Americans, the overwhelming feeling I had this week was of despair because again we have found ourselves asking a question that no parent should ever know the answer to: What if my babies don’t come home from school? We took a picture in the front yard as we have the past few years. My kids finished 7th grade and kindergarten yesterday. Here & Now's Peter O'Dowd with his family on his kids' last days of 7th grade and kindergarten.