Benefits of antenatal tests

You’ll be offered a range of prenatal tests to check that your baby is developing normally; and there are also tests performed as part of your prenatal checks to ensure that you don’t have any health problems that could affect your unborn baby.

Tests on you will check for conditions such as pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes. Tests that check your baby can screen for and diagnose abnormalities such as Down syndrome and spina bifida, and include ultrasound scans and blood tests.

It’s not compulsory to have these tests, especially if you wouldn’t terminate a pregnancy under any circumstances. However, many parents who feel like this view the tests as a way of finding out if there’s a problem so they can have their baby in a hospital equipped with a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and prepare themselves to care for a child with disabilities. On the other hand, you may be sure that if you found out your baby were to have a serious medical condition you would choose to have a termination.

Decisions like these aren’t easy to make. All parents have different circumstances and backgrounds and the choices made can be affected by a number of factors. After an initial chat with your OB-GYN or nurse-midwife it may be very useful to you to see a genetic counselor, especially if your family medical history means you’re high risk for having a baby with an abnormality. Alternately, there are many helpful organizations that offer help and support and can put you in touch with other women and couples who’ve had prenatal testing – ask your OB-GYN or nurse-midwife for details.

Make sure that you and your partner talk and share the responsibility for any tests you do decide to have. You need to agree on how you’re going to move forward in the event of a test coming back positive.

The information in this feature is intended for educational purposes only. If you have any concerns about your health, the health of your child or the health of someone you know, please consult with a doctor or other healthcare professional.

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Last Modified: 24/09/2008

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