NT Scan

How did you decide if you are doing the NT scan?  My dr offered it and scheduled me for one in July, this is the same office that is seeing me b/c of my DS surgery...so I will be going either way...

I am not sure what I want to do.....thoughts, advice, etc....thanks!

I decided to do it because it's non-invasive (well they take blood from you) and a much better indicator of Downs Syndrome / Trisomy disorders than the old "quad screening".

Since it involves an UltraSound I also got to see my little man!  (You can never see the baby too much!). 

In fact it was at that 12 week ultrasound the doctor told us he was a boy.... and said he's never been wrong in his predictions.  And it was confirmed at 16 weeks! 

Of course I may have decided not to do the NT if I didn't know my insurance would cover it!

Cindy

The NT scan checks for chromosomal abnormalities like downs syndrome. It is not 100% accurate. More like 70%.

That being said, it really depends on what you plan to do with the information. Do you want to know ahead of time whether or not your child has something or would it make you stress out more during your pregnancy? Would you terminate?

Some doctors encourage the scan so that they can better prepare for an 'abnormal' baby. Down's doesn't neccessarily mean that there will be a need to prepare for anything special after birth... but you know how doctors are.

Personally I did not have this done. I work with handicapped people so I wouldn't have cared. I also didn't need another reason to worry throughout my pregnancy. I told my OB and high risk that I would rather them assume something was wrong and do alot of checking after birth than know now and have that hanging over my head.

30% of the results end up being wrong anyways so I definately did not need a false positive!

It's really a personal decision and not medically neccessary... so it's up to you.

Good luck deciding.

During my 10.5 week u/s I asked about the NT scan and she said "I'm doing that right now".  So, I guess I didn't get a choice!  LOL!  Which I wanted it done anyways because I was hoping for another peek at my babies...but nope, they did it a little early. 

Sandy

For me it was a personal choice not to do the scan. I guess because of my faith I believe that God wouldn't give me more than I could handle. (and I wouldn't terminate anyway) Plus, I didn't want the added stress of false positives, which is sorta common with these things. If the results are hazy they may ask you to do an amnio and there is risks in that that I didn't want to take either.

It is a personal decision, but one that shouldn't be taken lightly, so I am glad you are finding out things to make an educated decision. Good luck either way. Shari

I choose to have this done for a couple of reasons, 1. I was scheduled to deliver in a hospital with no NICU or perinatologists, if there was an issue with the baby I would have wanted to be in a hospital with the appropriate medical staff. 2. I LOVE LOVE LOVE seeing my babies in there!!! It was totally safe and the the ins. covered it, so I went ahead and did it.  Blessings!

I personally opted out. I was given a a choice by my OB. You do have a choice to do it or not and that is something you will really need to think about prior. Will it make a difference if you carry your pregnancy or terminate, the additional stress for the remaining months, etc........things like that.  I did not need, nor want the added stress of a false positive for the remaining months, and termination will never be a option for me. Just a personal choice and to each is there own.  Good Luck to you!!