How long does it take to do Down syndrome screening during pregnancy?

In fact, women should not overwork themselves after pregnancy, and should have a good rest, otherwise it will have a bad effect on their bodies. They should also go to the hospital regularly for relevant examinations. This is better for their fetuses, and they can know the condition of their fetuses at the first time. So let us understand how long it takes to do Down syndrome screening during pregnancy.

Main process:

First trimester

This examination mainly uses two screening methods, "ultrasound" and "blood test", when the pregnant mother is between 10 and 13+6 weeks of pregnancy. Dr. Huang Xuguang said that ultrasound can clearly measure the thickness of the fetal nuchal translucency, and blood tests can be used to measure the plasma protein A value and human chorionic gonadotropin value in the mother's serum to estimate the risk of the fetus suffering from Down syndrome.

Second Trimester

When pregnant mothers have their blood drawn at 15 to 20 weeks, the hospital will test the serum levels of alpha-fetoprotein, human chorionic gonadotropin, free estriol and inhibin, and then calculate the risk of the fetus suffering from Down syndrome based on the mother's age, weeks of pregnancy and weight.

Chorionic villus sampling

Dr. Huang Xuguang said that pregnant mothers must discuss this test carefully with their doctors first because it is an invasive test that requires obtaining some cell samples from the developing placenta. He gave an example that when a pregnant mother undergoes first trimester screening, if the fetal nuchal translucency is more than 3 mm, she can consider doing chorionic villus sampling directly to test the chromosomes. However, the results of this will not be known until 14 days later.

Amniocentesis

This is also an invasive test but carries fewer risks than chorionic villus sampling. Dr. Huang Xuguang said that by extracting amniotic fluid from the amniotic cavity of the pregnant mother's uterus for testing, it can be determined whether the fetus's chromosomes are abnormal and whether the fetus is likely to have Down syndrome. It takes 14 days to get the results and its accuracy is over 99%.

The above article gives you a detailed introduction to the process of Down syndrome screening and how long it takes to do it during pregnancy. I believe you already have a preliminary understanding of it, so in your daily life, you still have to do this kind of examination to confirm whether your baby is healthy.