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Prenatal testing: Is it right for you?
Prenatal testing can provide valuable information about your baby's health. Understand the risks and benefits, and how prenatal testing might affect prenatal care.
By Mayo Clinic staffPregnancy is a time of great anticipation — and anxiety. You may be wondering if you'll experience complications or if your baby will have health problems. Take comfort in the fact that most babies are born healthy. Still, you may want details about your baby's health beyond what your health care provider can observe. Enter prenatal testing.
Types of prenatal testing
Prenatal testing includes both screening tests and diagnostic tests:
- Screening tests. Prenatal screening tests, such as blood tests and ultrasounds, are routine in most pregnancies. Specific screening tests, such as the first and second trimester screening for abnormal chromosomes, also may be offered. Screening tests can identify whether your baby is more likely to have certain conditions, but they usually can't make a definitive diagnosis. Screening tests pose few or no risks for you or your baby.
- Diagnostic tests. If a screening test indicates a possible problem — or your age, family history or medical history puts you at increased risk of having a baby with a genetic problem — you may consider a more invasive prenatal diagnostic test, such as chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis. Diagnostic tests may carry a small risk of miscarriage.
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- American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Committee on Ethics. ACOG committee opinion no. 363. Patient testing: Ethical issues in selection and counseling. Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2007;109:1021.
- Diagnosing birth defects. American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/bp164.cfm. Accessed Feb. 15, 2010.
- Your first tests. March of Dimes. http://www.marchofdimes.com/pnhec/159_519.asp. Accessed Feb. 15, 2010.
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