I have been through three pregnancies and am thankful that I had normal pregnancies and healthy babies. I followed the typical protocol of prenatal care and my checkups included the typical internal check, testing my iron levels, blood pressure checks, measuring of the uterus, and an ultra-sound. One thing that I always opted out of was prenatal testing, more often known as an amniocentesis.An amniocentesis is done by inserting a thin, hollow needle into the abdomen and uterus, using an ultrasound to guide the process. In mid-second trimester amnios, about 2 tablespoons of amniotic fluid are removed through the needle. The most common reason for doing an amniocentesis is to check for birth defects. It can also be used to check fetal lung maturity near term and occasionally in late pregnancy to assess anemia in babies with Rh disease. During a normal pregnancy it is often only used to check for birth defects.
This is where I have a problem with it. I see no point in getting an amniocentesis to find out if my child will have a birth defect or not, because the result of the test will have no bearing on whether I carry that baby to term or not. The typical birth defect that they search for is Down syndrome (and many abortions are then preformed based on the result). You can also search for trisomy 13, 18, etc., plus Turner and Cri du Chat syndromes. There is also cystic fibrosis and other defects. But I choose to forgo all testing because even a positive result of a defect would not have changed my mind in carrying on my pregnancy. There are many false positives reported with an amniocentesis and that would involve further testing and needless worrying.
Even some couples who know that they would never abort but would like to know if there is an issue that they can prepare for before hand do decide to get an amniocentesis. I can see the reasoning in this...if you know before birth that your child will have Down syndrome or be be born with cystic fibrosis you can research it and know what you will need to know to be prepared. But again, the tests are not 100% accurate. And the tests are also not 100% safe. One must decide for themselves whether knowing something before birth is worth the risk of a test.
Bleeding and cramping, miscarriage, amniotic fluid leakage, fetal respiratory problems, increased admissions to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, uterine infection, clubfoot, etc. are all listed in various resources as potential risks of amniocentesis.
Bleeding occurs 2-3% of the time and is usually resolves without problems, but is associated with a somewhat higher rate of fetal loss. The risk for miscarriage increases after an amniocentesis, it is generally thought to increase between 0.5% and 1.0%.
These are real concerns that I decided are not worth it for my pregnancy and baby. If I had serious complications in pregnancy or a possible serious problem with the baby that showed up on ultra-sound that may be easier helped if we knew what we were dealing with, I may feel the risks were worth it to see what was going on. But in my healthy pregnancies I saw no reason to get an amniocentesis.
I did have to sign a waver to opt out of these tests. The thing that gets me is that the tests are touted as normal and routine and the risks are often in small print on a pamphlet that mothers often don't read, instead taking the advice of the doctor and going through just "another routine test". I don't think that there is anything routine about an amniocentesis and I hope that more mothers will realize that there is a risk, and then decide whether it is right for them and their baby, instead of just going along with it.
If you have been through a pregnancy, what made you decide to have/not have prenatal testing done?
I opted out of prenatal testing as well. My reasoning was identical to what you just explained above. I couldn't have said it better. Jamie
ReplyDeleteI had the basic prenatal tests, but opted out of the amniocentesis for exactly the reasons you listed above. Plus, I have personally known people who did have it done, only to be given a false postive result for Downs Syndrome, which proved false when they delivered a 100% healthy baby. Although they did not consider abortion to be an option, they wanted to be "prepared" for the worst, and spent their pregnancies worried and sad after being given an incorrect result. --Dee
ReplyDeleteHubby and I opted out for exactly what you talked about. To us, it wasn't important to know beforehand. It wouldn't change anything. The risks didn't outweigh the benefit.
ReplyDeleteSame. What good was knowing beforehand if it wasn't going to change the outcome of my pregnancy. If it was something that was going to be a huge problem, my midwife would have caught it and sent us to an OB instead. But even that would never have changed the outcome. And like you said, there are crazy risks.
ReplyDeleteTestings must be different now compared to 18 years ago when I had my son. When I was pregnant with him I did all of the tests that I was told to do. They were all blood tests. There was a protein test that I had to take. It came up as being high. I was told that it meant that the baby had spina bifida. I had to have an amnio to check to see if it was indeed spina bifida. The obgyn that was to do the amnio had an emergency c-section and I had the head of radiology do it. He had the doplar on my belly and then took it off to insert the needle. They sent the fluid to Magee Womens hospital in Pittsburgh and they did the wrong test with the fluid. I had to have another amnio and this time the obgyn did it and left the doplar on my belly and inserted the needle beside the doplar. I had to know if my child did have a problem because you cannot deliver a baby with spina bifida vaginally. Fortunately he didn't have spina bifida and now he is 18 and going off to college next year. When I was pregnant with my dd 2 years later I told my dr that I was not going to take the protein test. I would check for diabetes,etc, but I was not going to go through that again. On another note, my dr at the time we were going through all of the amnio's did say that he would help us if we wanted to sue the hospital for doing the wrong test with my fluid. We declined then but looking back on it we went through so much worry between the time of the two amnio's it was amazing that I didn't lose him.
ReplyDeleteBeth
I realize I'm over a week late in reading this, but I thought I'd put my 2 cents in.
ReplyDeleteMy first son was born with a congenital heart defect and a genetic disorder of the immune system. Neither of his conditions were diagnosed in utero. We thought we were going to the hospital to give birth to a healthy baby boy, only to have him airlifted to a children's hospital 90 miles away a few hours after birth, before I was even able to hold him. He required 2 surgeries, one of them open-heart, and he was 28 days old before we could bring him home. The few days after his birth were some of the most traumatic I can imagine, and I would not want to go through that blindly again.
My husband and I chose not to have genetic testing to find out if either of us had the gene mutation that caused his immune disorder (which in turn caused his heart defect) because we had decided not to have more children for the time being. Then, of course, I got pregnant!
Because we had a known risk of a genetic disorder, I did have an amnio. The results would absolutely not have changed our minds about continuing the pregnancy, but after going through everything we did with our son, we needed to be prepared this time. Thankfully, the results were fine, and we also had ourselves tested. Since we now know that our sons defect was not because of our own genetics, if we ever have another baby, I will not choose to have an amnio again.
I just thought you might want thought you might want the perspective of someone who chose to have the additional testing.
I realize this was written over a year ago, but I just had to put my two cents in for anyone who reads this from here on out. I also refused amnio. for the same reasons you did. However, now pregnant with my third baby, I am so happy to report that (at least where I am going for prenatal care) they are no longer considering an amnio standard. Yay! They are doing a blood test to check for Spina Bifida (my grandma had it), but said they consider the Amnio. to be only if needed now. I hope this is not for just where I'm going, but everywhere now.
ReplyDelete