You’re pregnant! A time of celebration, anticipation. . .and anxiety? While prenatal visits are often a source of reassurance and information, the options presented by your midwife or doctor can be overwhelming. In addition to routine blood work you may be offered options such as ultrasounds, maternal serum screening, nuchal translucency, HIV testing, amniocentesis, glucose test, gbs testing, biophysical profiles, non-stress tests, and more. . .
Even the most well informed expectant parent can find the array of testing options dizzying. While we are blessed to live in a time with excellent screening and treatment options, for some expectant families prenatal testing can create significant stress.
Here are a few ideas to help you navigate the realm of prenatal testing:
Ask Questions: In addition to information given by your care provider, do your own research and ask questions. It is especially helpful to know a test’s accuracy rate and the risk of false positives. Talk with friends about their personal experience of prenatal testing.
What Are You Seeking: The unknown of pregnancy can be profoundly challenging, and prenatal testing may allow you a sense of having some control over the unknown. This may be helpful, or create additional stress should you be presented with questionable results or even a false positive. What do you hope a test will offer you?
What Would You Do: Perhaps the most informative guide in prenatal testing is the question of what you’ll do with the results. Often a heartfelt discussion, it is important to explore your expectations of what you would do if testing revealed a problem.
Our nine months of pregnancy, and the choices we make regarding our care provider, place of birth, prenatal testing, and more allow us the opportunity to cultivate our decision-making skills as parents. We are making choices now not just for ourselves, but also for the health and future of our newborn babies. We hope some of the above ideas help you to navigate the unknown with confidence, and make informed decisions that feel right for you and your growing family.
Dig a little deeper into your choices with these helpful links:
- BC Prenatal Genetic Screening Program: www.bcprenatalscreening.ca
- BC Women’s Prenatal Screening & Diagnostics: www.bcwomens.ca
- Women’s Health Matters Prenatal Testing & Monitoring: www.womenshealthmatters.ca
Interesting article about prenatal testing. I think one important thing for parents to remember, about the triple screen specifically, is that it is not about positive vs negative. It is just a screening and not an absolute test. It just screens for your potential risk.