Antenatal Tests

There are so many antenatal test available that even I am confused by it. I most certainly didn't do most of the test. Here are just a few of the available test:

- Human Chorionic ganadotropin (hCG): This is the first blood test I did to confirm my pregnancy. hCG is produced during pregnancy, mine was showing 563 mIU/mL after my agonising 2-weeks wait.

- blood test: group, Phesus (Rh) factor, Iron level, rubella, Hepatitis B, HIV and other abnormalities of red blood cells (sickle cell or thalassaemia)

- (and of course the standard) urine test

- Nuchal translucency (NT) scan: NT is a collection of fluid under the skin at the back of a baby's neck. It can be measured using ultrasound some time between 11 weeks and 13 weeks. All babies have some fluid, but many babies with Down's syndrome have an increased amount. A screening test can only estimate the risk of your baby having Down's Syndrome. During the scan, the doctor will measure your baby from the top of his head to the bottom of his spine. He/She will then measure the width of the NT. The skin will appear as a white line, and the fluid under the skin will look black. The measurement will be able to give an estimation of risk of Down's Syndrome.


- Amniocentesis (I've mentioned about this earlier on in my blog)

- Chorionic villus sampling (CVS): usually done between week 10 to 13 of pregnancy which can detests chromosomal abnormalities such as Down's syndrome - similar to Amniocentesis only this can be carried out earlier. The test is done with ultrasound is used throughout the procedure and a full bladder (oh how I hate the feeling of full bladder), where the doctor will extract a fragment of chorionic villi from the placenta.

- Glucose tolerence: to detect gestational diabetes (GD) in the mother

So far, I only did the blood test and urine test (done every time I visit Dr F). I guess my test result was quite positive so Dr F didn't ask me for the NT scan or Amniocentesis. But what Dr F adviced me to do was to go see another doctor across the causeway and we did an Early Genetic Diagnostic - which eventually minimises the percentage of chromosomal abnormalities as well as confirming the good/normal growth rate of the baby.

Every pregnancy is different, so antenatal tests prescribed by your doctor varies. So be prepared and make sure you know what is the purpose of the test!