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Thinking about antenatal screening and what it is for
Screening in pregnancy is a way of checking whether the fetus (unborn baby) has a health condition. The screening tests offered in pregnancy are either...
Special reasons for having a scan include:
Three women we interviewed had family members born with health conditions that can be diagnosed through screening. They said that they would not have continued with their pregnancy if the same condition was found in their baby. They didn’t feel the same about other conditions, though (see also Attitudes to disability and termination).
One woman’s brother had severe learning disabilities and no cause had been found. She’d also had an early miscarriage. She was impressed with the genetic counselling and testing she was offered.
Another woman had two family members with Down’s syndrome and wanted to find out if her baby was affected. Genetic tests had shown that they did not have the rare inherited form of Down’s syndrome, but she still wanted to find out.
One woman’s mum had a baby that was stillborn with water on the brain (hydrocephalus). In her first pregnancy she was offered an early scan. The scan didn’t find any problems with the baby’s brain. She was reassured but it was distressing for her mother to have to think about it again.
Other women thought about their own mother’s feelings too. One decided not to tell her mother she was pregnant until she’d had the results of the nuchal fold scan at 12 weeks. Another waited until after she had had genetic counselling.
For some people the results of screening and genetic testing were enough to reassure them. One explained that she felt satisfied she had done everything she could.
Another woman with a family history of Down’s syndrome wanted to be completely certain that her baby was not affected. Her screening results showed a low chance of Down’s syndrome, but she wanted a diagnostic test to find out for sure. She eventually had amniocentesis, and in her second pregnancy decided straight away this was what she wanted.
Loss of a pregnancy (miscarriage) could affect whether people wanted to have screening. Several people we talked to had experienced miscarriages. Some had not been aware there was a problem until they came for a scan at around 12 weeks.
This experience made them feel nervous and negative in later pregnancies. Some had earlier and more frequent scans to reassure them. Having already lost a baby made some people want to have every test available, but it made others unsure.
One couple had experienced miscarriages. They had the nuchal fold scan to check for the likelihood of Down’s syndrome and other genetic problems in the baby and the result was low chance, but high for their age. Amniocentesis, a diagnostic test, carries a small risk of causing a miscarriage and they decided not to take that risk.
* See also our section on Screening for sickle cell and beta thalassaemia.
Screening in pregnancy is a way of checking whether the fetus (unborn baby) has a health condition. The screening tests offered in pregnancy are either...
Some people decide not to have pregnancy screening because of not wanting to end a pregnancy if there was a major problem, or potentially be...