NT scan (x posted)

Sam914 · #1 September 27th, 2009, 08:45 AM

Okay so we've been talking about this alot lately in my DDC and i'm pretty confused about it... i decided not to do the test because my doctor said there are no real benefits to finding out something is wrong earlier unless you're going to terminate because of it... She said they do the same tests later at my 17(ish) week u/s and alot of insurances dont cover the earlier test

But now i'm wondering if i just understood wrong and i should just see if i can get it? Are there benefits that i dont realize?

#2 September 27th, 2009, 08:53 AM

**lurking** the NT scan is deemed "unnecessary" by many people (DRs and Mothers alike) especially if the mother is young and/or there is no family history of birth defects/Downs.

I was (am) the exception. I was 22 when the NT Scan confirmed that I was carrying non viable conjoined twins. I had received 4 previous U/S from my OB and one from the ER tech. All previous U/S showed *1* "healthy" baby. If I hadn't elected to have the NT Scan, then it may have been several more weeks before the severity of the twins malformation would've been discovered. At that point, MY life would have been in danger.

I am definitely an advocate for the NT Scan. However, it is a very personal decision. Good Luck!

Jodi0804 · #3 September 27th, 2009, 09:40 AM

We had it done for 2 reasons. We wanted another ultrasound to see the baby and because the local hospital I'm delivering at doesn't have as an advanced NICU as other places. The decision is totally your own though, I know people who have and have not had it done!

lttle_one · #4 September 27th, 2009, 09:58 AM

We opted out. Too many false negatives, we wouldn't do an amnio to confirm anything because they're too risky, and I stressed out enough, I didn't want to add unnecessary stress on myself if something did come back positive. They can catch most things at your 20 week scan. It is a very personal decision, though.

Lyz · #5 September 27th, 2009, 10:04 AM

we decided to do it because for one, we wanted an ultrasound of our baby and secondly we wanted to know if there was anything wrong to help prepare us for what was in our future. We would never terminate and I wouldn't have done the amino either.

For me, I'm glad I did it because i was carrying twins and this is when i found out one of my twins didnt' make it. Had I not elected to do the u/s, it could have been weeks before I knew what happened.

I know alot of people who didn't do it though so don't stress out if you didn't. you could always ask to do just the blood test if you really wanted to know...but, you are still early enough to do the test if you change your mind.

Christine-MA · #6 September 27th, 2009, 10:05 AM

I did it, mainly because I wanted to see the baby on the u/s. I wasn't worried about something being out of the ordinary, and thankfully nothing was diagnosed wrong (which also gave me a sense of relief).

Sam914 · #7 September 27th, 2009, 10:31 AM

Sigh.... i dont know! I didnt think i needed it but i didnt even consider the fact that if something is wrong with the baby it could potentially harm me also, hmmm. I do really really want another u/s.... but at the same time i'm a big worrier so IF something was to come back abnormal its going to scare the crap out of me.

Man this is a tough one!

~April04~ · #8 September 27th, 2009, 10:38 AM

My OB doesn't offer it (largest naval hospital - just too many patients).. I did the 1st and 2nd trimester blood screen instead.

fromustobaby · #9 September 27th, 2009, 12:05 PM

I did it, and am glad I did...a few reasons...

1. we are higher risk, being older and have down in the direct family
2. it doesn't give "false positives", I think that term is really wrong here...it gives a risk assessment - so, based on the scan, you will have a 1 in whatever chance of having a baby with a trisomy abnormality...my natural risk (baaed on all of our factors) is 1 in 300...but, after the scan, it was 1 in 1100...other trisomy risks went all the way from 1 in 1200 to 1 in 15,000 - that gave me a HUGE sense of security! So, for example, if you got a 1 in 200 chance of having a baby with down - and it turns out that your baby didn't have down - well, that isn't saying that they test was wrong or a "false positive" - its saying that your risk said that one baby in 200 with your risk factors doe have down, and 199 do not...

3. I wanted it cause I dont get another U/S until almost 18 weeks, and didn't feel like waiting 8 weeks between scans - specially in the early stages...after the NT scan, I felt a lot safer - cause it was at the end of the first trimester, and I knew that after that I was really entering the "safe zone"...

4. My insurance paid for all but $95 dollars of it, I got WONDERFUL pictures, and a huge sense of security - to me, that really was worth the 95 dollars...

Anyway, that's my 2 cents...

FWIW, I would have gotten an amnio if I had a very high risk - not to decide to terminate, but to be prepared for what was happening...and to try to have as much information as I could...

caring21 · #10 September 28th, 2009, 05:56 AM

I didn't do it. Here it's very expensive and not covered by my insurance. Also since I'm 25 (24 at the time), we discussed it together and decided even if something was wrong we would love our child no matter what. We also decided that I was already feeling generally stressed about the pregnancy and didn't need any added stress. And lastely if something is wrong, we'll take care of it then. The whole take one day at a time, one step at a time. ( That's my hubby's opinion more than mine

) There isn't always a need to be two steps ahead. You do what feels right for you.

KCMomma · #11 September 28th, 2009, 06:19 AM

It's always a touchy subject. We opted not to get it solely because our insurance didn't pay for it. We decided to get all tests that the insurance paid for. We would have never terminated the pregnancy if something were wrong, but we wanted to be prepared as possible. I hope some of these comments help you make your decision!

Etph007 · #12 September 28th, 2009, 06:22 AM

My dr. didn't offer it, but I would have gotten it if it was an option for many of the reasons already listed. We did, however, get the bloodwork instead.

*Mommy2Camden* · #13 September 28th, 2009, 08:13 AM

It's a personal choice I think. We decided not to do it, but did the regular afp4 test around 18 weeks.

Lauren S · #14 September 28th, 2009, 01:39 PM

My reasons for doing it were very similar to others that have posted. I wanted to get an u/s because I would have had to wait until 19 weeks otherwise. Also, I wanted to be able to prepare if we found out something was wrong.

Good luck with your decision!

stlgirl · #15 September 29th, 2009, 12:56 PM

I opted out because I am low-risk. I don't regret not having done it - baby seems to be doing just fine, and our 20 week ultrasound didn't show anything out of the ordinary. I'm confident we'll end up with a healthy child at the end of this.

Sam914 · #16 September 29th, 2009, 01:39 PM

Well, i think i do want it.. i put in a call to my doc to discuss it. I didnt realize it was at another doctors office so i'm waiting for them to call me back now

Gray_baby · #17 September 29th, 2009, 02:52 PM

We opted out as well, along with other testing. There was no way we were going to terminate and stressing about a "possible" problem throughout my pregnancy would have made me crazy. Like Tanya pointed out it's more of risk assessment than a positive/negative result test. Based on the ultrasounds we've had though everything looks great with our LO, my 20 weeks u/s showed no abnormalities and I had a 4D a couple of weeks after that. I also had an u/s right around 12 weeks because it's standard procedure at the Navy hospital here - they do one for every pregnant woman to verify EDDs (even though there was little doubt in my case) so it's not like I had to wait long between u/s.

polarbearmama · #18 September 29th, 2009, 03:09 PM

We opted to do it mainly because we wanted an U/S before the 20 week one and our insurance paid for it. We weren't concerned about genetic abnormalities and would not have terminated if there had been a problem.

lttle_one · #19 September 30th, 2009, 05:16 AM

Sam, don't forget to make sure your insurance covers it or find out how much it is.

Lo_and_Behold · #20 September 30th, 2009, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christine-MA

I did it, mainly because I wanted to see the baby on the u/s. I wasn't worried about something being out of the ordinary, and thankfully nothing was diagnosed wrong (which also gave me a sense of relief).

That's pretty much how I felt about it. I didn't have any reason to believe that something was wrong although when I did get the results in conjunction with the triple screen (or whatever comes after the NT...funny that I can't remember!), I felt all the more relieved. And at my OB's practice it was basically assumed that you would get it. I'm sure if I had personal objections, I could have refused, but the thought of not getting it done was never mentioned on either side. You need to do what's right for you though.