To test the health of the unborn child?

How to test the health of the unborn child

12/11/2013

During pregnancy, a number of complications can occur, which are associated with an increased risk to the fetus. Many expectant parents worry that their offspring may not be all right. Expectant parents have a number of studies that go beyond maternity policy checks during pregnancy. available. With them you can look for abnormalities in the still unborn child. However, 100 percent safety can not be guaranteed by today's technology. In women over the age of 35, pregnancy is associated with a not inconsiderable risk and this risk increases the older the future mother is. Most of all, they cause the chromosome disorder known as Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21)..

Among the term „prenatal Diagnosis“ Common methods include ultrasound (sonography), which includes nuchal translucency, nasal bone, and fetometry, blood tests, or amniotic fluid aspiration. Parents should definitely weigh up which examinations are to be done, because they are associated with for the health of the mother and the child and not always there are clear results. Sometimes the health insurance does not pay for the costs. Consultation with the doctor is essential. The Genetic Diagnostics Act has established that, regardless of the method used to examine the fetus, a detailed explanation and specialized genetic counseling by the physician must be provided. Parents, who are not enough, can also obtain information in special human genetic counseling centers.

Blood test and ultrasound
The neck pleat measurement is a blood test and a special ultrasound diagnosis, which is carried out between the 12th and 14th week of pregnancy. This investigation is also called first trimester screening. The results can be used to calculate the likelihood of trisomy 21 in the child. But whether the child actually has the chromosome disorder can not be answered. In women over the age of 35 years, 1 out of 380 cases of Down syndrome occur, explains Christian Albring from the Association of Gynecologists.

In amniocentesis, amniotic fluid is removed from the amniotic sac by means of a hollow needle through the abdominal wall. Thus, childlike cells can be obtained, from which it can be clearly determined whether a chromosome disorder exists. There is a risk of miscarriage due to one out of every 100 to 200 cases.

Risk calculations alone do not help
However, Albring recommends that every woman over the age of 30 have this exam done, because if a woman is unsure whether to keep or abort the child if she has Down's syndrome, she can not help making simple risk assessments.

"We were aware that you can not necessarily do anything with the result, because it's just a probability calculation," adds the mother from Berlin. "Deriving an action from it is difficult." After all, the accuracy of the first-trimester screening is 85 to 95 percent, according to Robin Schwerdtfeger. The president of the Professional Association of Prenatal Physicians (BVNP) advises on this method only if the screening has delivered a "clearly unfavorable" result. "I would only recommend this test in special situations, such as when a woman is over 40, has a fertility treatment, and has not got pregnant until the third attempt," he explains. From the 10th week of pregnancy, the test is possible. But actually, an examination is only useful if a woman belongs to a risk group, there was a striking first-trimester screening or she already has a child with trisomy 21 from a previous pregnancy.

Even if the blood test can be calculated quite a large probability, there are still imponderables, said the physician. Because of the risks associated with the investigations, parents should think carefully about which diagnostic procedures they would like to perform. The privately paid medical checks are also in the criticism, because doctors improve their fee. There is also no evidence that diseases occur as a result less or more harmless. The so-called hedgehog monitor, in which the medical service of the central association of the health insurance funds (MDS) rates the self-payer's performance, assessed numerous studies as negative. (Fr)