Prenatal Testing & Abnormalities
It’s important to know the facts about your pregnancy – the science of it all – and what options this world presents to you as a pregnant woman. You also need to know the whole truth about how each of the choices you could make might affect you, your baby, and those close to you.
To understand prenatal test for abnormalities more thoroughly, let’s review a typical diagnostic effort. Let’s assume the pregnant woman wants the test to be sure that her baby does not carry a fetal abnormality. In this case, the first thing done is a blood test for Alpha-fetoprotein. It tests the mother’s blood and can reveal, or at least suggest, that the baby she carries has an open spine or is anencephalic. This blood must be drawn between her 16th and 18th week of pregnancy.
Of 1,000 women, 50 will have positive results. The blood test should then be repeated, for it is frequently false. On the repeat, only 30 will still be positive.
Of the 30 who are positive, an ultrasound will be done. It will clear 15, leaving 15 still positive.
These 15 mothers will then undergo an amniocentesis test, which itself carries a risk. British studies have shown that 1 percent of the babies whose mothers are given this test will die. It takes four weeks to get the results from the amniocentesis tests, and these will typically narrow down and pinpoint one or two babies who have handicaps.
Even after all of this testing, some of the babies indicated by test as “handicapped” will, in fact, be normal and some of the “normals” will be born with a “handicap”, as the test is not always 100 percent accurate. A report in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1986 found that from amniocentesis, false positive and false negative results varied from 4 percent to 17.5 percent.
The above applies to open spine, spina bifida and anencephalus. For Down syndrome there are several tests that point toward it, but are not definitive. The final test for it and other genetic problems is amniocentesis.
If Down syndrome is suspected, the doctor may insist that amniocentesis testing be done. If you don’t want the test done because of the risk to the life of your baby, tell him to enter into his records that he has offered the test to you, explained it, and that you have refused. Then sign his record and have a witness also sign. This will relieve the doctor of any possible liability.
Parents may be tormented by the possibility of their child having Down syndrome. Accurate information may allay some of those fears. Unlike many other genetic anomalies, Down syndrome is not a terminal disorder. The average child born with Down syndrome in America today can expect to reside at home, go to school, learn to read, hold a job, and live to the age of 55. Their parents will often say this child is the light of their lives. Down syndrome children are models of unconditional love, of which our society is in desperate need.
It is one of the triumphs of modern society that the life of the average person born with Down syndrome has become strikingly normal. Unlike normal people, though, people with Down syndrome have been targeted for elimination.
According to a 1990 Canadian study of 22,000 women who received a prenatal diagnosis, 88 percent of those who found they were carrying a child with Down syndrome aborted the unborn child. Other studies have put the rate of Down syndrome abortions at 90 percent, some even higher.
While abortion seems like a “quick fix” for a long-term problem, it is a permanent decision that has physical and emotional risks to the mother.
Physical Risks of Ab ortionBREAST CANCER: The risk of breast cancer almost doubles after one abortion, and rises even further with two or more abortions.
CERVICAL, OVARIAN, AND LIVER CANCER: Women with one abortion face a 2.3 relative risk of cervical cancer, compared to non-abortive women.
PLACENTA PREVIA: Abortion increases the risk of placenta previa in later pregnancies (a life threatening condition for both the mother and her wanted pregnancy)
IMMEDIATE COMPLICATIONS: Approximately 10 percent of women undergoing elective abortion will suffer immediate complications of which approximately one-fifth (2 percent) are considered life threatening.
Emotional Risks of AbortionMany women rationalize the need for an abortion, and therefore repress any initial feelings of guilt. As a result, many emotional reactions are delayed, sometimes for as long as five to ten years.
There is also a large number of couples who would like to adopt terminally ill babies, including babies with AIDS. For information, call the National Council for Adoption 202-328-1200
Used with permission of National Council for Adoption, 1030 17th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009
FOF Heartlink newsletter, November 1998
To understand prenatal test for abnormalities more thoroughly, let’s review a typical diagnostic effort. Let’s assume the pregnant woman wants the test to be sure that her baby does not carry a fetal abnormality. In this case, the first thing done is a blood test for Alpha-fetoprotein. It tests the mother’s blood and can reveal, or at least suggest, that the baby she carries has an open spine or is anencephalic. This blood must be drawn between her 16th and 18th week of pregnancy.
Of 1,000 women, 50 will have positive results. The blood test should then be repeated, for it is frequently false. On the repeat, only 30 will still be positive.
Of the 30 who are positive, an ultrasound will be done. It will clear 15, leaving 15 still positive.
These 15 mothers will then undergo an amniocentesis test, which itself carries a risk. British studies have shown that 1 percent of the babies whose mothers are given this test will die. It takes four weeks to get the results from the amniocentesis tests, and these will typically narrow down and pinpoint one or two babies who have handicaps.
Even after all of this testing, some of the babies indicated by test as “handicapped” will, in fact, be normal and some of the “normals” will be born with a “handicap”, as the test is not always 100 percent accurate. A report in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1986 found that from amniocentesis, false positive and false negative results varied from 4 percent to 17.5 percent.
The above applies to open spine, spina bifida and anencephalus. For Down syndrome there are several tests that point toward it, but are not definitive. The final test for it and other genetic problems is amniocentesis.
If Down syndrome is suspected, the doctor may insist that amniocentesis testing be done. If you don’t want the test done because of the risk to the life of your baby, tell him to enter into his records that he has offered the test to you, explained it, and that you have refused. Then sign his record and have a witness also sign. This will relieve the doctor of any possible liability.
Parents may be tormented by the possibility of their child having Down syndrome. Accurate information may allay some of those fears. Unlike many other genetic anomalies, Down syndrome is not a terminal disorder. The average child born with Down syndrome in America today can expect to reside at home, go to school, learn to read, hold a job, and live to the age of 55. Their parents will often say this child is the light of their lives. Down syndrome children are models of unconditional love, of which our society is in desperate need.
It is one of the triumphs of modern society that the life of the average person born with Down syndrome has become strikingly normal. Unlike normal people, though, people with Down syndrome have been targeted for elimination.
According to a 1990 Canadian study of 22,000 women who received a prenatal diagnosis, 88 percent of those who found they were carrying a child with Down syndrome aborted the unborn child. Other studies have put the rate of Down syndrome abortions at 90 percent, some even higher.
While abortion seems like a “quick fix” for a long-term problem, it is a permanent decision that has physical and emotional risks to the mother.
Physical Risks of Ab ortionBREAST CANCER: The risk of breast cancer almost doubles after one abortion, and rises even further with two or more abortions.
CERVICAL, OVARIAN, AND LIVER CANCER: Women with one abortion face a 2.3 relative risk of cervical cancer, compared to non-abortive women.
PLACENTA PREVIA: Abortion increases the risk of placenta previa in later pregnancies (a life threatening condition for both the mother and her wanted pregnancy)
IMMEDIATE COMPLICATIONS: Approximately 10 percent of women undergoing elective abortion will suffer immediate complications of which approximately one-fifth (2 percent) are considered life threatening.
Emotional Risks of AbortionMany women rationalize the need for an abortion, and therefore repress any initial feelings of guilt. As a result, many emotional reactions are delayed, sometimes for as long as five to ten years.
- Sad mood
- Deterioration of self-concept
- Reduced motivation
- Extreme guilt or anxiety
- Depression and thoughts of suicide
- Sudden and uncontrollable crying episodes
- Sleep, appetite and sexual disturbances
- Disruption in interpersonal relationships
- Psychological “numbing”
There is also a large number of couples who would like to adopt terminally ill babies, including babies with AIDS. For information, call the National Council for Adoption 202-328-1200
Used with permission of National Council for Adoption, 1030 17th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009
FOF Heartlink newsletter, November 1998