Prenatal screening is a way for you to determine the chance your baby may or may not have trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) or trisomy 18. Anyone may have a pregnancy with trisomy 21 or trisomy 18, regardless of their family history. This chance increases with the age of the mother (or the age of the egg donor). Sometimes prenatal screening can tell you about the chance for other genetic conditions, such as trisomy 13 and sex chromosome differences. Prenatal screening poses no risk to the pregnancy as it involves ultrasound and blood work. Prenatal screening is not diagnostic. Only diagnostic testing, such as chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis, can give you a “yes” or “no” answer about trisomy 21 and trisomy 18 during the pregnancy. Prenatal screening is available to all pregnant individuals.
DIANOVA offers prenatal screening procedures in its specialty immunoassay laboratory which includes First Trimester screening (Dual Marker test, Triple Screen Marker test, Quadruple Screen test, etc). Prenatal testing consists of prenatal screening and prenatal diagnosis, which are aspects of prenatal care that focus on detecting problems with the pregnancy as early as possible.