High Nuchal Translucency test advice?!

LegacyUser

Just Had a NT test and the fluid between the baby's neck is 4.8mm. The Sonographer or the doctor didn't speak to me after the scan and only said that they wont be able to tell more for a few weeks. The Nasal bone was present and the baby seemed to look ok but I am worried sick. Has anyway one else had a high reading at their NT test and went on to have a healthy baby. I am 29 with two previous children. No family history of Fetal abnormalities.

Moonbeam

Mod Note...

Please share your personal experiences only and please do not give medical advice.

Typer Monkey

Hi there. Nuchal translucency is notoriously inaccurate. If you can afford it I'd highly recommend having a Harmony blood test done. I had one as I was 38 and wanted piece of mind. It cost me €550. It's a blood test that tests for the trisomy disorders, hunters and turners syndromes. It's not diagnostic and you would still need an amniocentesis to diagnose if you still got a 'high likelihood' result but it's way way more accurate than nuchal translucency

PhoenixParker

I haven't been in your position but being a slightly older mom I've looked into some of the pre-natal testing available. It's come on in leaps and bounds in recent years. The biggest thing is that they can now use normal blood tests (from the mothers blood), identify the babies DNA within it and test that for chromosomal abnormalities. Compared to older procedures like amniocentisis there's no risk.

It's best known as the Harmony test, but there are a few other versions of it that do the same thing. They're far more accurate then the nuchal test which has an incredibly high error rate. It is expensive to just get done off your own bat (which is why I haven't actually got it done yet). The cheapest I've found is the Beacon at E450 however if you go private I think some hospitals will offer it more cheaply as part of your "package". Given your current results it's worth asking the doctors if they can prescribe it or access some discount scheme for you.

Beanybabog

I have two friends in the last two years that had a bad result of that test. One went on and did the harmony test, looked good, and had a healthy baby, the other is pregnant and did the amniocentisis test and it came back fine. There appears to be plenty of room for error

xalot

That sounds very stressful.

What hospital are you with OP? I'm private in the Coombe and had the harmony test done this week, it's far more accurate than the scan. I paid €380 directly to the lab carrying out the testing but they took the blood along with my booking bloods in the Coombe. I paid a reduced rate as I'm already paying my consultant by going private so she doesn't charge for providing the results.

The results take a week to ten days apparently so it wont settle your nerves immediately but if it were me I'd definitely get the test for peace of mind.

When I was at my GP last week I noticed they had a pamphlet for it so maybe it's something your GP could do if you're combined care?

I believe you can also claim 20% of the cost back from Revenue.

Beanybabog

I'm doing the harmony as well. Mine is €550 in Holles street (or the clinic beside it). Think it 's worth it for peace of mind

LegacyUser

Thanks to everyone who replied.
I decided this morning to go and see another doctor in another hospital. (I live abroad but will be returning to Ireland in the next 8 weeks and will book with Holles street)
Spoke with a lovely consultant who reassured me that with my age and family history I was very unlikely to be high risk. He also mentioned that the NT scans are not very accurate and that they need to be done by a specialist to get the correct quality of pictures.
The Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist also came to see me and reassured me that he would repeat the test on Monday along with the blood tests and hopefully everything will be ok. I was 11w 3days getting the test done initially and will be just over 12w doing it on Monday.
Fingers crossed it goes ok.

jkbah

Hi there. That was me 28 weeks ago. I got a similar result at my 12 week scan. Nasal bone and thigh bone were present. Got referred to holles St. 33 yrs, 3 children already. Consultant who done scan couldn't find any measurements outside normal parameters and said oftentimes it's very different based on people's perceptions. He put all our data into computer and gave us a likelyhood of the different abnormalities. We felt they were in our favour so we decided not to get the Harmony test. Baby girl born last week. All good with her.

Penny Dreadful

I had the Harmony test done too. It cost me €450 but was well worth the spend. I'm 38, have one perfectly healthy 20 month old child and then had a miscarriage last summer. I found the people in the Beacon lovely and the result was back very quickly so there was very little waiting around time.

sinead81

Hi all, 35 year old, 13 weeks pregnant on my first and had an NT test booked for today but just cancelled it because of a big work commitment. I was in 2 minds whether to go or not anyway, worried about what could have been said? And maybe I should let fate decide? And it will all appear on the big scan at 20 weeks anyway. Being pregnant is scary!!!

Beanybabog

sinead81 wrote: »

Hi all, 35 year old, 13 weeks pregnant on my first and had an NT test booked for today but just cancelled it because of a big work commitment. I was in 2 minds whether to go or not anyway, worried about what could have been said? And maybe I should let fate decide? And it will all appear on the big scan at 20 weeks anyway. Being pregnant is scary!!!

My own personal (non medical!) opinion is that most people, myself included, go for these tests for peace of mind rather than because the stats are against us. If you are not going mainly because you are worried, just think how less worried you'll be when the results are good! I know a few people who simply didn't worry about any risks and weren't bothered with tests, if that's you, great, there's probably no need.

lazygal

sinead81 wrote: »

Hi all, 35 year old, 13 weeks pregnant on my first and had an NT test booked for today but just cancelled it because of a big work commitment. I was in 2 minds whether to go or not anyway, worried about what could have been said? And maybe I should let fate decide? And it will all appear on the big scan at 20 weeks anyway. Being pregnant is scary!!!

If I have another pregnancy I'll get the test done because of my age and because I want all the options and results to make an informed decision as early as possible. I also know people who don't worry about missing scans or don't want tests like Harmony because it won't affect their decision about their pregnancy either way. I know I need peace of mind from having the information available, if you're happy with letting nature take its course that's the right decision for you.

Penny Dreadful

sinead81 wrote: »

Hi all, 35 year old, 13 weeks pregnant on my first and had an NT test booked for today but just cancelled it because of a big work commitment. I was in 2 minds whether to go or not anyway, worried about what could have been said? And maybe I should let fate decide? And it will all appear on the big scan at 20 weeks anyway. Being pregnant is scary!!!

The test would only give you information at an earlier stage than the 20 week scan. If you wanted to consider your options if you found out that your results weren't as you'd hoped then it can be (for some) easier to make those decisions sooner rather than later. At 20 weeks you've felt your baby move, told people, etc and all of this can make difficult decisions even harder.

Beanybabog wrote: »

My own personal (non medical!) opinion is that most people, myself included, go for these tests for peace of mind rather than because the stats are against us. If you are not going mainly because you are worried, just think how less worried you'll be when the results are good! I know a few people who simply didn't worry about any risks and weren't bothered with tests, if that's you, great, there's probably no need.

I'm 38, had a miscarriage after one perfectly healthy pregnancy and decided to have the test to find out early rather than later.
I'm still not sure what we'd have opted to do if the results had been bad news but knowing that all was well meant I could settle into the pregnancy at an early stage.

lazygal wrote: »

If I have another pregnancy I'll get the test done because of my age and because I want all the options and results to make an informed decision as early as possible. I also know people who don't worry about missing scans or don't want tests like Harmony because it won't affect their decision about their pregnancy either way. I know I need peace of mind from having the information available, if you're happy with letting nature take its course that's the right decision for you.

If I have another pregnancy after this one, I'd be 39/40 and definitely have the Harmony test again. Its all a personal choice as you said.

rainbow kirby

I'm 31 and just had my first at the end of March - the NT measurement and a blood test are standard as part of the 12 week scan here unless you state that you don't want T21 screening. I'd consider the Harmony test if we go again, it's around 400 quid here and my age related risk will have increased and I like having as much information as possible.

Kantava

I think I will get harmony test also. Would prefer to know asap.