All pregnant women should get Down syndrome test
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| Photo credit: Pancia, by Fabrizio Morroia |
This week, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists begins recommending every pregnant woman, regardless of age, be offered a choice of tests for this common birth defect.
Age 35 was always a somewhat arbitrary threshold for urging mothers-to-be to seek testing.
Yes, the older women are, the higher their risk of having a baby with Down syndrome.
But it's a gradual increase in risk — from one in 1,200 at age 25 to about one in 300 at age 35.
Nothing suddenly changes at the 35th birthday.
Indeed, because more babies are born to younger women than older ones, women under 35 actually give birth to most of the nation's children with Down syndrome.
It's clear there's no magic jump at 35,said Dr. James Goldberg of San Francisco Perinatal Associates, a member of the ACOG committee that developed the guideline.
We've done away with age 35, because the screening tests have gotten much better.
Read more: All pregnant women should get Down syndrome test
TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
Inconceivable: Winning the Fertility Gameby Julia Indichova
-- One in six couples in America will experience reproductive problems. Julia Indichova and her husband were part of that statistic.
According to several fertility specialists, Julia's high FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) level was an indication that her body was no longer producing fertilizable eggs.
Her only chance of conceiving, they said, was in-vitro-fertilization with a donor egg.
After a futile quest for a more hopeful prognosis, Julia searched through a variety of holistic alternatives and finally decided upon a personal healing regimen.
She followed it as single-mindedly, as one would follow a doctor's prescription of antibiotics. Her daughter Adira was conceived naturally, eight months later, and was born on April 29, 1994.
Hardcover: 201 pagesClick to order/for more info: Inconceivable
Category: Down's Syndrome, Old Eggs
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