testing


New test proves safer option A


until recently, the only tests for Down syndrome were invasive and risked miscarriage, but now, specialist midwife sonographer, Jo Scobie, tells MM about a new option...


s a specialist midwife sonographer, I routinely carry our detailed anomaly scans between 20 and 24 weeks and


not a day goes by without a parent asking me if their baby has Down syndrome. Professional opinion would seem to


suggest that the optimal time to have a baby is in your twenties, when you are most fertile and when your risk of miscarriage, birth defects and other complications is lowest. Many Irish women are, however, choosing to delay starting a family until well into their


12MODERNMUM Spring 2016


thirties and even forties. In fact, according to new figures, the average age for Irish women becoming mums is actually increasing! Te HSE’s Perinatal Statistics Report for 2013 reveals that the average age of an Irish woman giving birth is now 32.1 years: up from 30.8 years back in 2004. Fortunately, the majority manage to


conceive naturally and go on to give birth to perfectly healthy babies. Many women are aware, however, that


the risk of having a baby with Down syndrome increases with age. Te risk of having a baby born with Down syndrome -


the chromosomal abnormality women are most aware of - increases from one in more than 1000 in your twenties to 1:250 at 36 years, to one per cent at 40 and about three per cent by the time you're 44! Up until recently, the only way to test


for Down syndrome was by doing a chorionic villus sample (CVS) or amniocentesis, both of which are invasive and carry a risk of miscarriage. Now, however, we have a new option.


Harmony prenatal test is a new DNA-based blood test for Down syndrome. Significantly more accurate than traditional tests,


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