Amniocentesis: Yay or Nay?

Question

The clinic who helped me conceive through <a href="https://glowing.com/glow-fertility-program">IUI</a>, discharged me today to a regular OB. She mentioned that because I’m 32, they might want me to do testing via amniocentesis, which I don’t really want to do.

I understand that there are benefits of knowing if there is a problem early on, but at the same time there is risk. I don’t think it is worth the risk.

Moms who have had to encounter that scenario: what did you do? What did you research? Did you encounter risks with the procedure?

Answer

I'm 32 and an amniocentesis isn't necessary...and risky. Could cause you to get infection or miscarry. My doctors offered me to get this test done because we lost our daughter last year due to genetic kidney disease but there isn't a benefit for me to get this test done because if the baby has the same thing his/her big sister had there isn't anything that can be done. We just have to pray and hope this baby is healthy.

Answer

I would do the 12 weeks scan and bloodwork to see if you have markers, then do the NIPT if you have any worries and only after that amnio. I’m 34 and not even planning on NIPT as long as the 12 week scan and bloodwork look good.

Answer

I'm 32 and will not be doing it, if offered. That seems pretty extreme and would make me think your OB is just trying to rack up on charging you for an unnecessary procedure. 🤔

Answer

I never had it done but I personally wouldn’t ever do it. I’ve heard bad things about it and the risks to me aren’t worth it. I just did the general genetic testing. There is so many woman these days having kids in their 30s even 40s.

Answer

I haven’t had experience with this, but I used to work in an OB clinic and the recommendation was to do first trimester screening and only an amino/cvs if you had an increased risk on that test. But again, it’s all optional.

Answer

Get the NIPT first. If you come back with an elevated risk from the blood test, go for either a CVS or amnio. I had a CVS with my last pregnancy because there was reason to believe the baby was not healthy and we wanted to see if it was genetic. 
But actually, the first thing you should do is get an ultrasound around 11-14 weeks. At that point there may be markers on the scan for issues (if they are present at all). If you can SEE something wrong with the baby, it’s not a terrible idea to go straight to the CVS or amniocentesis. Our CVS cost us about $200 but our NIPT, which we had the day before a scan showed our baby was sick, cost $600 and was absolutely irrelevant since we got the CVS anyway. Not sure if you’re somewhere other than the US though where you hopefully wouldn’t be charged an arm and a leg just to see if your baby is healthy or not...

Amniocentesis: Yay or Nay?

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