What does the medium screening check?

Down syndrome is a very serious infant deformity that has a huge impact on newborns. It can cause serious developmental and intellectual disabilities, which is extremely unfortunate for a family. In order to detect Down syndrome in time, regular screening is required during pregnancy. Among them, the mid-term screening is the most important stage. Let’s take a look at what the mid-term screening checks.

Down syndrome screening is generally divided into early Down syndrome screening and mid-term Down syndrome screening. Most people now do a mid-term screening, and some hospitals do it twice. These two are the same examination, just with different names.

Down syndrome screening is the abbreviation for prenatal screening test for Down syndrome. Serum is drawn from expectant mothers to test the concentrations of alpha-fetoprotein, chorionic gonadotropin and free estriol in the maternal serum. The risk factor of giving birth to a fetus with congenital defects is calculated based on the expected date of delivery, weight, age, body weight and gestational age of the pregnant woman at the time of blood collection. Down syndrome screening can only determine the probability of risk. Doctors always leave room for interpretation of screening results: the fetus of a high-risk pregnant woman may not be mentally retarded; the fetus of a non-high-risk pregnant woman may not be non-mentally retarded. The hospital's Down syndrome screening results can only indicate the probability of a baby with Down syndrome, not that high-risk babies definitely have problems. Some expectant mothers have questioned the Down syndrome screening, thinking that the results cannot accurately determine whether the baby is mentally retarded. However, after all, this is the most economical, simple and non-destructive method to determine whether the baby is mentally retarded. If the results are suspicious, further amniocentesis can be performed. Expectant mothers may ask, since the accuracy of Down syndrome screening is not high, why not just do amniocentesis? Because amniocentesis is relatively risky, it is not recommended unless it is absolutely necessary, and the cost is also relatively high.

Under normal circumstances. If you do a Down syndrome screening between fourteen and twenty weeks. This time is more accurate. So don't be too nervous in this situation. I suggest you go to the hospital for a screening to get a clear diagnosis.