Well I think that if you are going to keep your baby weather or not it is healthy then you shouldn't do the test there is a 1 in 100 chance of a miscarriage just from the test being proformed and it isn't 100% accurate. For me I say NO to the test. That is putting my baby in too much risk.

Personally, I'd say no.

I am 27 and I said no to the test. The doc asked me if I wanted it and said "It's not the best out there in the fact that the odds of miscarrying are there.. so if you don't want it, it's not that important" Not to mention from what I hear, it is to give you a choice of aborting the baby if it has down syndrome. I am sure there are other reasons for moms to find out if there are any abnormalities. I personally would not get it done, especially if there are no chromosomal problems in your medical history.

I am 38; and my Dr. had me do the quad check first and if there were no red flags from that test, that I shouldn't have the amnio done. I checked out ok with my quad test, so I am not taking the risk. The quad check is 96% accurate for downs, which is good enough for me.

What you need to ask your self is would you keep the baby if it did have say downsyndome. I am 34 and will be 35 when i am about 6 months pregnant with my third. I also know that there is a 1% risk of miscarige after this test. Why put yourself through this worry. I have never had an amniosentisis and would never have one. If you were 45 years old then you would really have something to worry about. Disability can happen when a mother is any age i saw a young mum of say 22 a few months ago and she had a down syndrome baby. Your % of having one is not that high my chance was like really quite low. I did worry alot though until i had my neucal scan at 16 weeks and the blood and other scan came back normal. Oh if your black and the nasal cavity is not developed then this is normal and develops around or by 20 weeks( this is associated with Down Syndrome) I did accept that my baby could have it after this nasal cavity was not present but rang a few private hospitals and clinics and they said once everything else is normal then this is fine in black babies. It can also happen if your partner is black.

Just relax its normal to worry what ever your age is.
Especially when all the books are saying that at 35 you are high risk. Rubish i am fit and healthy and eat very well.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all your replies--this was very helpful. I think I'm going to first go for the non-invasive tests (e.g. my blood tests; ultrasound) to see if there are any red flags, before I dare think about this more risky procedure.