Any Info on the CVS Test in Early Pregnancy

I had it with all of my pregnancies, it wasn't until pregnacy 5 that I got a positive for possible Downs, I went ahead and scheduled an appointment for an ultrasound, a more in depth and better resolution one, after it was done we spoke with a genetasits(sp?) they let me know that they couldn't see any of the tell tell signs but I should go ahead and set up an amnio, I choose not to because I was going to have the baby no matter what, so there are chances of false positives, my health 17 month old is a testament to that, I think it is more personal but not necassary.

did you have the test with your other five girls ?i never had one done with any of my four preg but for me it was a neddle thing .my last daughter was almost born in the parking lot so i could avoid an IV so i guess i would pass enjoy your girls and the preg and put the test out of your mind

I did a google on CVS test, and you may want to do that as well. My second son is now 5 1/2 months, but when I was pregnant, my Dr did a ultra sound to measure his neck. It came back on the high end of the numbers, so they took blood work, and that came back showing I had a 1 in 50 chance of the baby having downs. I did have an amniocentesis done, which is painful, I wanted to be able to prepare myself with classes if needed, and the results came back he was 100% normal/healthy! It is truly your choice in the end, I have a feeling either way, you'll always question if you did the right thing. Follow your heart, and talk to your Doctor, and your husband. Best of luck either way!

Hi

I would not recommend getting the CVS test. I was 35 (advanced maternal age) and decided against it. There is a higher risk of miscarriage than an amnio. If you are worried about birth defects, do a non invasive ultra sound to check the folds on the babies neck. This checks for the risk of downs.
Hope this helps.

I am sure it is uncomfotable, they wanted to stick a needle through my stomach to my placenta. Ouch

A.

RN and mommy of 4 yr old and 10 mom old

Hi E.,

I don't have experience with the test, but opted not to have it done. My midwife told me that out of 100 women, 15 will get a "positive" result showing that something is wrong. Of those 15 women, only 1 will actually have any problems. The other 14 end up being subjected to more and more and more testing, only to have a "false positive". My belief is that what will be will be. I wouldn't do anything different either way, so why put myself through all the worrying!

The CVS test wasn't offered to me when I was pregnant either time. I live in a very rural area, though. With my son, I had an abnormal triple-screen test (blood test), and I was told there was a chance he could have downs. They recommended I get a 3-D ultrasound before I considered an amnio, because there is a chance the amnio can cause a miscarrage. The 3-D ultrasound was really amazing, and they could see he didn't have any of the downs 'markers'. He was born completely healthy and normal. If you are only 27, I wouldn't worry about it--you are still very young, and the chances of anything being wrong with your baby are pretty low at your age! But I guess it really comes down to what you would do with the information...I would have kept my baby either way, so I didn't want to risk a test that might cause miscarrage.

I got the CVS test when I was pregnant at 36. I'm a carrier for cystic fibrosis and we wanted to make sure the baby didn't have it. They put a needle right through my abdomen (no anesthesia but you can stand it; just make sure your husband or someone is there to hold your hand) and then take a tiny piece of the pre-placenta with a needle. You can watch the needle on a screen and reassure yourself that it's nowhere near the baby (I made my husband watch as I wanted to keep my eyes closed). The relief that we felt upon finding out that we were having a healthy little boy who was not even a carrier for CF was worth it for us!!!

I wouldn't do it. Your ultrasound can tell you if there is a problem with your baby, and unless you would make a decision to abort, there is no reason to worry yourself for no reason.
Good Luck
M.

E.,
I opted not to have the test. I had questioned why I would want to have it. The best explanation my Dr gave me was so I could decide whether to keep or abort my pregnancy. And when he told me how inaccurate the results could be, I wondered why I would put myself through that. Abortion was not an option, no matter what the results were-especially knowing that the results had a high percentage of being wrong. I took the wait and see approach, prayed daily for the health of my child- and we were fine. I feel in pregnancy that you just have to be ready to accept what you have been given- regardless of the circumstances.

I had the CVS test done, because I was pregnant at 38 (also meaning my insurance paid for it). My husband wanted to know specifics about our baby early on, and for us it was better not to wait for the amnio. It was a positive experience for me. It was not too painful, and the results were very specific. I hadn't heard anything about false positives, as in the other responses, and we were happy to know that our baby was healthy that early in the process. The decision to do it is personal; for us, it was better to know earlier than to wait for the amnio. I doubt the amnio is any less painful, so the real question is, how soon do you want to know results, and can you live with any ambigious results? Hope this helps--it's more a question of timing than anything else. Even if abortion is not something you would consider (we would never have considered it), it would give you a chance to understand what is going on sooner rather than later.