Well here's my input - I would never do it. Here's why.

With my first I did it, because I didn't know better, and I thought, hey what could it hurt. Well it came back saying that my DD had a 1/100 chance of having Down Syndrome. That was at 16 weeks. Pregnancy is hard enough without having that weight on you. Then at 20 weeks when I had my ultrasound, the doctor was able to look and said that she didn't show any signs of DS, like a cleft pallette, etc. So thankfully I didn't worry much after that. But still, it sucked.

I think for people who have some of these problems run in their family then maybe it would be a good thing. But then you have to ask yourself if it even matters. If you will love the child no matter what, and want to keep the child no matter what, then why stress yourself out over what the results show your child *may* have.

So for this one, I can definitely say I won't be doing it!

I agree with Stacy, my husband and I came to the conclusion that we would love the child no matter what and decided not to do it with our first, we're not doing it with this one either.

My husband and I are the same. Sorry, also opted out of that so can't tell you why someone would except if they had a family history or would get rid of the baby should it show a difficult to care for condition.
If you're going to keep the baby no matter what, and your family is clean of those kinds of issues--why worry? :)

I feel the same was as all of you above, that is why I want to hear reasons as to why I should get tests done? I really am curious...I mean I guess you could be better prepared for when you have the baby knowing if something was wrong, but other than that...that is the only valid reason to me. I am curious if there are ANY other reasons that I just have not heard...

I had the blood work done at 16 weeks, had to wait till 20 weeks to get the ultrasound. Looking back, I wish I would not have done it.
The reason why I did it is because if my baby had a birth defect, I wanted to know and be prepared. I would not have aborted the baby if it did have DS - but many couples would which is a huge reason for opting to take the test.

When my blood work came back, it said I had a 1 in 200something chance and it stressed me out over the next three weeks waiting to get the ultrasound. Whats more - we were so excited to find out the gender of the baby and it was supposed to be a happy day - but it was overshadowed by the possiblity of something being wrong on the ultrasound.

My baby ended up having no markers - thank goodness - and so now I'm just not worried about it. I know someone who had three markers, then got the amnio which showed her baby did not have DS - thats alot of stress for nothing!!

Also, I'm not sure about other types of birth defects, but DS is not necessarily genetic - most babies born with DS do not have a family history. I would only go with the screening again if I was close to 40 yrs old.

Well I guess if you are looking for reasons to do it...I can't really say. As I said, I did it with my first because I didn't know better. I guess I didn't really understand what it was, or what the results would be. I just didn't think it would be a big deal to get it. Knowing what I do now though, I really don't know why people get it, other than if you are at risk of those things and your doctor recommends you get the test done.

This is one of those things where there is no right or wrong answer just what is right for you. For me I do get the bloodwork done.

My reason is that I would want to be prepared in the event that there was an abnormality. I felt that the longer I had to research the disorder, learn which doctors and which services are available for children with that disorder the better off my baby would be. Also, having more time to prepare myself emotionally the better it would be for me.

The down side is that the bloodwork is not a 100% answer. It gives you odds. In my case it took my odds from one in a couple hundred based on my advanced maternal age down to one in several thousands. So it was very reassuring. It could have gone the opposite direction and been one in 100 etc. I felt that knowing my odds was a good thing even if it went the bad direction because it would help me make an informed decision about if it was worth it to undergo the risks of amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling. Because I was advanced maternal age I already qualified for a level 2 ultrasound (this is a higher level more sophisticated ultrasound than the normal 20 week us it is still done around the same time). However, if you are not advanced maternal age another reason to get the bloodwork would be that if your odds worsen based on the bloodwork than you would qualify for the higher level scan.

I honestly didn't even realize what the test was for, but got it with all 3 of my pregnancies. I got fine results with my first 2, but my 3rd came back as a 1/267 risk for Downs. Long story short, everything looked fine on the ultrasound. I opted not to get the amnio because of the 1/400 risk of miscarriage. The follow-up ultrasound is not a guarantee that the baby does not have Downs, only time will tell. I have 15 weeks to go in this pregnancy. The ultrasound did ease my fears though, but I still occasionally wonder if she is ok. The genetic counselor did tell us that Downs is not hereditary.

It did put a damper on my excitement of finding out the sex of our baby. We were so excited when we found out we are having a girl, but then had to meet with the counselor to discuss the what-ifs. It really ruined the excitement of finding out the gender. If I have any more children, I will refuse this test. I have read how inaccurate it is, and feel it causes unnecessary concern. After the ultrasound, the genetic counselor said the baby only has a .5% chance of having Downs. I hope this helps.

I'm young so I wasn't too worried about the baby having any of that. The chances were low so I got the work done so that my doctor could put that down in the paper work.

Thank you ALL! This is EXATCLY what I was looking for. I do think it would be good to plan, but I think me not worrying the entire pregnancy is more important to me personally(I am a worry wort). So I think I will stick to my guns and NOT do the tests so that I have my sanity! Thank you all again!!

the test is actually a combo blood work and u/s which has to be completed in weeks 11-13 to be useful. They take a measurement of the fluid around the top of the baby spine and put that in an equation with your blood test results and other risk factors such as your age. So, I don't understand the comments about the only bloodwork...I'm not sure how that would give you an accurage estimate. And 1/100----that's only a 1% chance. That's pretty low.

I did it for the extra ultra sound. It would not have changed my mind on keeping the baby.

The test I had, which I was talking about was the Quad screen which is done at 16-18 weeks. If it comes back normal, nothing more is done. If it comes back abnormal, they do a level II ultrasound and offer an amnio.

i didn't get it done either because I did not need the added stress. I knew it didn't matter either way for me so I opted out. I now have my beautiful healthy baby girl! :)

I had the IPS ultrasound and blood work done because I want to be prepared for anything that could be wrong. I'm having twins so its hard enough adjusting to things without the added surprise of one or both babies needing more medical care once born. While I tend to stress over the what ifs, I also know that the lab work is not 100% guaranteed so I'll be taking the results with a grain of salt. As someone else said, its also another way to get an extra ultrasound in, although my ob/gyn is having me do one every 4 weeks to keep a close eye on things.

I had the blood work and the nuchal translucency ultra scan done. I know that regardless of the test results I will not have an amnio bbecause it puts my child at risk. That being said, when I have the tests I go into it thinking they are not 100% one way or another. So if it is negative, it could be false. If it is positive, it could be false. But if there is a positive there are follow up bblood tests and more ultra sounds and there is the opportunity for me to gather information and prepare myself. I would rather be educated and prepared than shocked and scared on the day of delivery. I am going to worry about my unborn son until he is placed in my arms.....and then I am going to check his breathing very often over the next 3yrs, then I am going to worry about all kinds of other things forever.