NIPT (Non-Invasive Prenatal Test)
Having a healthy child is the primary goal of any parent. Identifying genetic abnormalities at early stages of pregnancy is very important. For these purposes, non-invasive (without entering the body with needles or various surgical methods) biochemical screenings have long been used, which, based on the results of blood tests and ultrasound data, make it possible to evaluate the risk of a genetic anomaly. The result of such a test is a calculated figure showing the risk of having a child with a genetic pathology.
Biochemical screening programs are not highly accurate; they are based on a combination of statistical data, hormone levels and the size of the fetus by ultrasound. Another method, amniocentesis, is the most accurate method, but it is invasive (doctors make a puncture of the fetal bladder to get cells belonging to the fetus for examination) and threatens the development of complications.
Medical science has not stopped looking for new screening tests that would be more accurate and independent of the calculated indicators. Recently, NIPT (non-invasive prenatal tests) have proven themselves to be a reliable and convenient method, which does not interfere with the safe childbearing. The accuracy of the method reaches 99.9%, since the genetic material of the fetus (its DNA) is examined in the venous blood of the expectant mother.
How is this possible? Scientists have found that starting from about 10 weeks of pregnancy, fetal DNA circulates freely in a woman's blood. Doctors extract and examine it, identifying the most common chromosome changes. Additionally, NIPT shows the information about the gender of the unborn baby. Thus, almost every woman can give blood from a vein after waiting for 10 weeks of pregnancy to learn the unborn baby’s gender and check its genetic health.
When is NIPT needed?
- If, according to the results of biochemical screening, a high risk of chromosomal abnormality is revealed.
- For pregnant women over the age of 35 years.
- If genetic abnormalities in the fetus have been identified during previous pregnancies.
- If the woman wants to do the test using this particular method.
