Thread: Can anyone tell me about the numbers for a screening test for Down Syndrome

My daughter is pregnant, about 12.5 weeks. She had a blood screening test for Down Syndrome, she just called me very upset. They just called her with the results. The numbers are 1-270 they told her this was a normal negative number but her's was 1-268 which is positive. Does anyone know exactly what this means. I'm upset, she's upset and I'm not sure if we should be upset. Thanks for any help.

My Son and daughter-in-law was told two times when she was pregnant that their child tested postive for Downs. Neither one has Downs. Several other people have told me the same thing. I don't know if the test is unreliable or what the problem is, but it sure caused a lot of concern for the parents involved. Hopefully that is the case with your DD too.

Have her have a sit-down with her doctor to clearly explain the results.

With the help of your practitioner or genetic counselor, you'll decide whether your results indicate a high enough risk that you want to have diagnostic testing to determine whether a problem exists.

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I agree that false/positive tests happen all of the time. Is her doctor talking about any further testing at this point? Write down any questions that you all have, so DD can call her doctor back to get some answers.
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My daughter also had this test. She was told the possibility of a Downs. The test was wrong and all was good with her first son. If the dates are off a little on the conception it can cause negative reports.

My niece also got a positive result, but her baby was born just fine. In fact, she is a little pistol!

It's a SCREENING test, they should absolutely follow up and have a consultation with the Genetic Counselor and the Specialist. At that point they can decide if they would like to have further DIAGNOSTOC testing done. This is not an ABSOLUTE diagnosis of Downs. It happens a lot, but worth discussing with the experts at that point.

There is an ultrasound test done now that can ease her fears

If you evaluate the statistics, 1:270 is not at all different from 1:268. At this point all it means is that they need a line to draw and if you are on one side you have a possibility, but on the other side you don't. This makes the test obsolete. The only accurate method to see if there is Down is an amniocenthesis. (I may not be spelling this well). Tell your daughter for tonight that 268 rounds up to 270, therefore she has a negative test. Tomorrow talk to her into speaking to the Dr. There are ultrasounds that can be done to rule it out if she doesn't want to have an amnio. It may be too soon for her.

I got pregnant shortly after I turned 39. On my first OB visit I was told that I had an empty sac, go home and wait to have severe bleeding and then come in to have a DNC. I cried my eyes out and the Dr never came back to see if I was OK. I didn't give up. I called a Dr friend of mine across the state and he said that from my results he expected a viable pregnancy. I kept going every other day for ultrasounds and two weeks later they found the heart beat. The Dr that found it was very persistent, and disagreed with them. The finding pushed him to leave the practice and go some place else. We were super excited until the husband of the first Dr, also an OB in the same clinic, told me that from what he could see, my baby had Downs. More tears and depression. I did some more research and found out that from his ultrasound equipment is impossible to rule it out. All they wanted me to do was to sign up for an amnio at their office, which they had just started doing. At that moment I switched Drs. My new Dr heard about what happened and was very careful. She did the Quad test, which is the same one your daughter had. My result was 1:110, which means that I had a one in one hundred and ten chances of having Down, of course a positive result. But only positive to the possibility. Not to Downs. She then sent me for a 3D ultrasound. They measured his neck, nose and fingers. They do a ratio. Downs kids have a wider neck and short fingers. When he was done he said that if my baby had Downs, he could not see it. It was a relief.

To make this story even longer, Emmanuel turned 8 in October, and he is a perfect little boy. He does not have Downs or any other visible genetic condition. On the day he was born I found the first two Drs in the hospital and showed them how wrong they were. They didn't say a word. And to complete the picture, The Dr who assisted in the C-section was the very same Dr who discovered the heart beat. He was pleased to be able to do this because I made him realize that he didn't belong in that clinic and now was very succesful on his own.

So, tell your daughter to relax and enjoy her pregnancy. This test is just a number and means nothing.

My DIL was told with her third pregnancy that her number was 1-14. We were all concerned of course. Little Audrey was born last March, just perfect. My DIL has said since that she will not have the test done again because all she did was worry after that and she wouldn't put herself and everyone else through that again.