Im 37, What Is The Likelyhood Of Me Giving Birth To A Child With Downs Syndrome?

[Nay37]

Im 37, what is the likelyhood of me giving birth to a child with Downs Syndrome?

[woofgang]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/conditions/downssyndrome1.shtml

scroll down to "maternal age"

[Kathyan]

I was pregnant with my youngest at 37 and they offered me an amniocentesis which I had and everything was OK. It's hard to say what the odds are.

[woofgang]

no its not Kathyan, its easy to say what the frequency is.....hard to do the decision making when you are the parents.

[yogasun]

Was pregnant with my oldest at 36, no amniocentesis offered. In those days (1982) I think they did an AFP test (maybe still do?) followed by an amnio if it was abnormal. No prob.
Pregnant with youngest son at 39 and offered amnio. Came back fine.
Was a difficult decision as to whether to have it but I decided to.
That doesn't help really, woof's link is helpful, just sharing my experiences.

[woofgang]

MadMen are you sure that she lost the baby as a result of the test?

[rockyracoon]

My daughter was high risk for Downs, I was 33 years old. I think you need a proper chat with your midwife so you can make informed decisions, I was offered the amniocentisis(sp) but declined as the risk of miscarriage outweighed the risk of Downs and the result wouldn't have made any difference to the decision I would have made. There may well be more advanced non invasive tests these days.

[yogasun]

I was going to ask that. When I had mine I was told, that as with everything there's a risk, but in the hands of a skilled medic there is only a small risk of miscarriage.

[rockyracoon]

There's definitely a risk as with any invasive procedure, but everyone has their own idea as to how great it is.

[rockyracoon]

Why did MM's post disappear?

[MadMen]

Yes, 100% sure.

Just for clarification, I asked for that post to be removed, so please do not mention any names, or relations when referring to what I said. Thanks :)

[chaptazbru]

I've just turned 38 and am expecting my first at the end of June and have decided not to take the amnio test. I've been told there is a very slight risk of miscarriage with it.

[Sqad]

This has always confused me.......if one wanted to induce labour then a rupture of membranes was the first method. Amniocentesis is just that...a rupture of membranes.
So....why doesn't labour follow ALL cases of amniocentesis?

[rockyracoon]

Okey dokes ;)

[woofgang]

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/screening-amniocentesis-downs-syndrome.aspx#close

screening info...the trouble is that even though they say there is a chance of the invasive screening causing miscarriage, in some cases, the miscarriage might have happened anyway, which you can't know....apparently some Down's pregnancies do spontaneously miscarry, as do other pregnancies where the foetus has not developed properly.

The other thing that testing can't yet tell is how much the child will be affected.

[rockyracoon]

Chaptazbru, congratulations I had no idea, actually thought you were in your 50's......sorry ;)

[MadMen]

Sorry RR. I tend to get carried away and don't really think about things before I post them. Thought it was a bit personal and disrespectful.

[chaptazbru]

LOL - why did you think that rocky ??? I feel it though at the moment !

[Mamyalynne]

I think that what matters most here is what your reaction would be to delivering a child with Downs - that should be your pivotal decision tool, not a test or statistics.

[yogasun]

Good point Sqad. Good job I didn't see your post in 1985.
Is it something to do with the way the needle goes in? Apparently it 'heals' (the sac) almosts immediately. The ARM that is done is at the base and probably more invasive, particularly with the uterus being 'ready to go' as opposed to 18 weeks gestation (?) Just a theory, no medical knowledge as such!