Down syndrome screening time

Prenatal check-ups are to ensure the health of pregnant women and fetuses and to prevent various accidents that may occur during pregnancy and delivery. It is divided into early pregnancy examination, regular examination in mid-pregnancy and late pregnancy examination. Once a woman is sure to be pregnant, she should undergo an early pregnancy check-up as soon as possible. Checking in the second and third trimesters is helpful in observing changes after pregnancy, and if any special circumstances are found, a series of preventive work can be done.

Down syndrome screening time

Down syndrome screening can be carried out in two stages: 9-13 weeks of pregnancy is early pregnancy screening, 14-21 weeks is mid-pregnancy screening. Generally, mid-pregnancy examination is more common. It is believed that the best screening time is 15-20 weeks of pregnancy.

When a woman finds out she is pregnant, she needs to go to the hospital regularly for prenatal checkups, not only to understand the physical condition of the expectant mother, but also to know the growth and development of the fetus in real time. During the twelfth week of pregnancy, you need to check your weight, blood pressure, listen to the fetal heart rate, the size of the uterus, draw blood and urine for tests, and obtain past medical records. When the pregnancy reaches the second trimester, around the thirteenth to sixteenth week, Down syndrome screening should be carried out. If it is discovered in time, it may be possible to correct it through early intervention and the child will be normal after birth.

What is the procedure for Down syndrome screening?

The general procedure for Down syndrome screening is to first conduct a phase I screening, in which ultrasound and blood tests are used to estimate the risk of the fetus having Down syndrome when the expectant mother is 9-13 weeks pregnant; in the second phase screening, blood tests are done at 15-20 weeks of pregnancy, and the estimation is made based on the results of the first phase.

If the risk is high, you may want to do hcg sampling, which is an invasive test and requires careful communication with your doctor, or amniocentesis, which is also an invasive test but is less risky than chorionic villus sampling. According to the above procedure, more accurate results can usually be obtained.

What should I pay attention to when doing Down syndrome screening?

Down syndrome screening is to detect high-risk pregnant women with congenital defects and further confirm the diagnosis in order to minimize the birth rate of abnormal fetuses. Its common method is non-invasive and relatively simple. The best time for screening is generally between 15 and 20 weeks of pregnancy.

You do not need to fast when doing Down syndrome screening, but it is related to your menstrual cycle, height, weight, exact gestational age, and gestational age. It is best to consult your doctor for other preparations before the test.