| According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human | | | | To find out for sure if the fetus has a birth defect, |
| Services your spouse may need other lab tests, like | | | | NTS must be followed by a diagnostic test like |
| blood or urine tests, cultures for infections, or ultrasound | | | | chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis. NTS is not |
| exams in the first trimester, for special genetic or | | | | yet widely used. If you and your spouse are interested |
| medical reasons. The doctor will discuss them with you | | | | in NTS, talk to your doctor. If she is unable to do the |
| and your spouse during your visits. The most common | | | | test, she can refer you to someone who can. Your |
| tests recommended in the first trimester include: | | | | spouse should also call her insurance company to find |
| Nuchal translucency screening (NTS) | | | | out if they cover the cost of this procedure. |
| This new type of screening can be done between 11 | | | | According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human |
| and 14 weeks of pregnancy. It uses an ultrasound and | | | | Services, NTS allows women to find out early if there |
| blood test to calculate the risk of some birth defects. | | | | are potential health problems with the fetus. This may |
| Doctors use the ultrasound exam to check the | | | | help them decide whether to have follow-up tests. |
| thickness of the back of the fetus' neck. They also | | | | Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) |
| test your spouse's blood for levels of a protein called | | | | CVS is performed between 10 and 12 weeks of |
| pregnancy-associated plasma protein and a hormone | | | | pregnancy. In CVS, the doctor inserts a needle through |
| called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Doctors | | | | the abdomen or inserts a catheter through the cervix |
| use this information to tell if the fetus has a normal or | | | | to reach the placenta. The doctor then takes a sample |
| greater than normal chance of having some birth | | | | of cells from the placenta. Experts use this sample to |
| defects. | | | | look for problems with the baby's chromosomes. This |
| In an important recent study, NTS found 87% of cases | | | | test cannot find out whether your baby has open |
| of Down syndrome when done at 11 weeks of | | | | neural tube defects. |
| pregnancy. When NTS was followed by another blood | | | | According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human |
| test done in the second trimester (maternal serum | | | | Services, about 1 in 200 women have a miscarriage as |
| screening test), 95% of fetuses with Down syndrome | | | | a result of this test. |
| were identified. Like all screening tests, the results are | | | | Pregnancy can be a challenging phase for your |
| sometimes misleading. According to the U.S. | | | | spouse. Maintaining a healthy posture will help her keep |
| Department of Health & Human Services, in 5% of | | | | many problems away. Sometimes being a dad takes |
| women who have NTS, results show that their babies | | | | a little wise perspective…... You can exchange |
| have a high risk of having a birth defect when they | | | | advice, tricks, tips, and solutions to common dad |
| are actually healthy. This is called a false positive. | | | | problems here. |