Another amnio question

[Anonymous]

I am aware of the fact that there's already an amnio topic but I will ask this anyway ..

My doctor told me last week that after the blood test and nuchal fold scan chances of having a Down baby are 1 in 225. Just my age (38) alone would give me a 1:25 chance, if my blood results would have come back 'perfect' it would give me a 1:275 chance but since it didn't it resulted in the 1:225.
The nuchal fold scan itself was good.
He immediately offered me an amnio but I am really anxious about making the decision. He basically said that the chance of having a Down baby is bigger than having a miscarriage after the amnio.
I felt that we didn't discuss it properly, I had my toddler with me (I had to) so it wasn't a very relaxed conversation. My question really is .. where can I find stats on risks etc and who has experience with amnio.
I am from Europe and I'm honestly under the impression that having an amnio is quite a common thing to do here ..

[Anonymous]

For specific stats, you should go see a genetic counselor--you can ask your doc to refer you--for that appointment, I would make sure you had childcare since it can be confusing and you want to make sure you are fully focused. I had an amnio and it was fine--most women who are older in the states op for this since it is really harmless esp. if they know that would op to terminate if there was a large problem.

[Anonymous]

I have had 3 pregnancies, and for those, I have had 2 cvs tests and 2 amnios. I feel that these tests are very safe, and that if you use an experienced dr and follow the precautions of resting - completely resting in bed for 48 hours afterward, that your chances of miscarriage are below the averages quoted. I recommend getting an amnio for the peace of mind. As you have been saying, the nuchal fold adds up to a lot of worries. The amnio can give you real answers about whether your baby has Downs or not. I used Dr Stern at IVF in Fairfax for 3 out of 4 of my tests, and then used Fairfax Hospital for one of my amnios. I have had no complications at all from the tests. But as I said, I did lay around in bed most of the time for the 48 hours afterward. I even had a toddler this last time, and just had my husband on alert that he would be on his own for the weekend following the test.

[Anonymous]

To PP--did you do CVS and amnio in the same pregnancies? I am asking as I would love CVS as it is earlier but would feel more secure on the additional problems tested in amnio. Please advise.

[Anonymous]

As a PP said, please do talk with a genetic counselor if you're unsure. With my second, I had a great nuchal fold measurement, but my blood work raised my risk. The genetic counselor told me that the nuchal fold measurement is generally more reliable (and my odds still weren't terribly high -- 1 in 370), but she was also very supportive of my inclination to do the amnio just for the sake of certainty. I then consulted with my OB, who also agreed that the risk of miscarriage (assuming amnio by an experienced OB) was lower than the risk of Down Syndrome.

Another factor to keep in mind is what you would do with the information. If there's any chance you would terminate, I think the amnio is worth it.

In the end, we had the amnio, and all was well. It's been wonderful for our peace of mind.

Good luck to you!

[Anonymous]

I had a cvs with a mosaic result which means that some of the cells were normal, and some were abnormal. So I needed a follow up amnio to determine if my baby was normal or not. The follow up amnio was all normal, so I was fine.