I have an abnoraml triple screen does this mean my baby will have down syndrome?

Answer 1

Triple screens have a high rate of false positives. I think I remember being told that girls have a higher rate of false postives than boys, but I can't find my source for that.

Answer 2

I HATE THIS TEST!!! I had abnormal results also and i was told my son had a 1 in 172 chance of having down syndrome so i was referred to another doctor to get the amnio but when they told my husband there was a 1 in 200 chance we'd miscarry he was against it. I also read somewhere on a message board that a woman had had similar chances and she had the amnio but she'd already miscarried by the time she got the results back that the baby was fine. Jon and I sat together and talked and decided that no matter what we'd love our son and it didn't matter. I didn't get the amnio so i got LOTS of ultrasounds and they never found any evidence of down syndrome. I spent 6 months wondering if he was ok..when he came out all i could say was is he normal, i probably said it a hundred times until they confirmed that he was totally healthy, i was so scared. I hate that test and when doing research when i had it done i found more false positives than anything else. It really depends on your age as well, there's lots of reasons it can say that, it can actually be correct, or you could have twins, or you could have a lot of amnio fluid...i would suggest doing some research and maybe have the amnio if you are truley concerned because since having my son i've found many more women saying that is ok and safe but i didn't want to risk it. Good luck....it will all turn out beautifully i'm sure!!!

Answer 3

Not necessarily. Mine came back saying my baby probably had DS, but it ended up that he doesn't. We were so scared because my fiance's brother has DS.

I've seen a lot of people lately asking similar questions, and none of them ended up having DS. The test can be thrown off by so many things that I don't think the test is all that accurate.

Try not to worry, most of the time, they will not have it. It is just a screening, and if anything at all is off, it will trigger an abnormal result.

Good luck with everything...I know how it is, I've been through it too!

Answer 4

I too had an abnormal triple screen. 1:166 chance for DS baby. went in for level 2 Ultrasound, and it was found my baby had a single vessel umbilical( instead of the normal 2) which indicated a kidney malfunction . The Ultrasound found no markers for DS but Dr. still asked if I wanted amnio. I declined because at 25 weeks if my water broke, and my baby WAS normal, I would regret it, even if not normal.. it's still my baby. I had to wait until my son was born to know. He was born May 8. No Down's, no kidney problems and absolutely perfect. Triple Screens are very unreliable. The genetic counselor i spoke to told me out of the hundreds of women she has counseled, only 2..yes 2 had ...DS babies.

Answer 5

I am on the other end of this question. I was told that i had normal results when my son was born he DID have down syndrome I was only 23 so my chances were very slim. Amino has so many risk assoc. with it. Ask yourself if you would still love your child if it did have DS. If the answer is yes and I hope it is then i would not have an amino. They can do ultrasounds to check for heart problems and other genetic factors. Good Luck!

Answer 6

triple screen/afp etc are precautionary tests, but have been proven to give false positive results. Your OB should have warned you about it. If it's really something for concern, the OB should recommend an amnio, but there is like a 1 in 300 chance of miscarriage with an amnio, so some OB's are "hesitant" to offer.

Answer 7

no it means your doctor will want to do a amino test. I declined the triple screen test because of the high % of false + test only a small % of women who get a + actually have a baby with any issues.

Answer 8

Not necessarily! They do get a lot of false positives, and I think they're more for the chances of a problem than saying yes or no - they'll probably want you to do further testing, like amniocentesis (sp?), but that's all it means so far. Don't panic. Best of luck!

Answer 9

Please talk to your doctor and if you don't feel you're being listened to or dealt with correctly find a new one. This kind of fear and concern is heartrenching and should be addressed by you with the person, people, who can best answer your concerns with confidence knowing everything in your situation that has any bearing on a potential answer.

Congrats on your pregnancy. I will pray for a happy and healthy baby, and for peace of mind for the parents.

Answer 10

Not not exactly. I had one. My baby is almost 2 months, And she is fine. She wasn't born with down syndrome. They say that anything could have triggered the test, like smoking, or you could go into labor before your due date, or simple things like that.