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By Mayo Clinic staffFirst trimester screening includes a blood test and an ultrasound exam.
During the blood test, a member of your health care team takes a sample of blood by inserting a needle into a vein in your arm. The blood sample is sent to a lab for analysis. You can return to your usual activities immediately.
For the ultrasound exam, you'll lie on your back on an exam table. Your health care provider or an ultrasound technician will place a slender, wand-like device in your vagina to send out sound waves and gather the reflections. The reflected sound waves will be digitally converted into images on a monitor. Your health care provider or technician will use these images to measure the size of the clear space in the tissue at the back of your baby's neck.
The ultrasound might take up to an hour. It doesn't hurt, and you can return to your usual activities immediately.
Test results are typically available in less than a week.
- Canick JA, et al. First trimester and integrated screening for Down syndrome and trisomy 18. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Aug. 27, 2012.
- Benacerraf BR. Sonographic findings associated with aneuploidy. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Aug. 27, 2012.
- Canick JA, et al. Second trimester maternal serum screening for Down syndrome. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Aug. 27, 2012.
- Routine tests in pregnancy. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. http://www.acog.org/~/media/For%20Patients/faq133.pdf?dmc=1&ts=20120827T1517335564. Accessed Aug. 27, 2012.
- Messerlian GM, et al. Overview of prenatal screening and diagnosis of Down syndrome. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Aug. 27, 2012.
- Ostermaier KK. Management of Down syndrome. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Aug. 27, 2012.
- Harms RW (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Sept. 11, 2012.
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