Advantages and Disadvantages of Screening in Fetal and Maternal Medicine Free Essay Example, 4500 words

The tests are used to determine the sex of the fetus as well as to facilitate blood group typing. There are two types of prenatal testing used to detect potential fetal abnormalities: screening tests and diagnostic tests 6 These two types of tests are extremely beneficial to detect any kind of birth defect that a baby might have. If primary screening tests demonstrate the baby could be in danger of acquiring some kind of birth defect, then the parents may make a decision to have a more invasive diagnostic test, for example, amniocentesis. Amniocentesis, a test that involves analyzing the baby's DNA from an amniotic fluid sample, is the most accurate prenatal test for these serious conditions in the baby 7The occurrence of Down syndrome and various other kinds of chromosomal problems are seen to increase as a mother age. An incorporated screening test shows that about 94 % children are born with Down syndrome a) Down Syndrome: Down s syndrome is a major cause of concern for pregnan t women and their families as well as the medical fraternity as a whole. This genetic disorder, first recognized by Dr John Langdon Down in 1866 as a distinct condition, hampers the normal growth of a child and can cause moderate to severe learning difficulties 8 in him or her. We will write a custom essay sample on Advantages and Disadvantages of Screening in Fetal and Maternal Medicine or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page Under the circumstances, it becomes highly significant that some kind of testing should be made available to pregnant women, so as to enable them to properly diagnose the issues beforehand.