As part of your antenatal care, you will be offered various tests to check on the health of your developing baby and for conditions that may affect you or your baby. 

It is important you book for antenatal care as early as possible in your pregnancy. This will help you get these tests at the appropriate time, and benefit from other care for you and your baby. 

Screening tests are used to find people at higher chance of a health problem. This means they can get earlier, potentially more effective treatment, or make informed decisions about their health. It can be helpful to imagine screening like putting people through a sieve. Most people pass straight through, but a small number get caught in the sieve.  

The people caught in the sieve are those considered to have a higher chance of having the health problem being screened for. 

Screening tests are not perfect. Some people will be told that they or their baby have a high chance of having a health problem when in fact they do not have the problem. 

Also, a few people will be told that they or their baby have a low chance of having a health problem when in fact they do have the problem. 

Before you attend your booking appointment with your midwife please take the time to read the screening information booklets that are sent to you with your booking appointment information on my pregnancy notes. 

These will give you the information to help you make the decision regarding any screening tests in pregnancy. Your midwife can also discuss these with you. 

When you are at your antenatal booking visit, your midwife will discuss with you the tests and offer you blood tests to screen for specific conditions including Haemoglobinopathies (including Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia), HIV, Hepatitis B & Syphilis and the option to have 1st trimester screening and an the 20 weeks screening scan.  

You have the option to accept or decline some or all these screening tests. 

Further information and resources can be found below: 

‘Screening Test for you and your baby’ - STFYAYB provides information about the screening tests offered during and after pregnancy. 

Please remember: Screening tests are non-invasive tests and are offered to all pregnant women, they are NOT diagnostic tests. 

At BHRUT we offer first trimester combined screening and second trimester quad screening and scans as per the national fetal anomaly screening programme.  

• You can choose to have a screening test for chromosomal abnormalities when you attend for your screening and ultrasound scan visit. 
• The combined test is done from 11+2 weeks to 14+1 weeks, and it is a scan and a blood test. 
• The blood test measures the amount of two proteins PAPPA and FREE BETA HCG. These proteins appear naturally in your blood during pregnancy. A change in the level of these proteins can indicate an increased chance of abnormality but doesn't give you a certain diagnosis. 
• The ultrasound uses sound waves to take a picture of your baby on a screen. It can show the age and position of your baby, and if there is more than one baby.
• During the scan, the ultra-sonographer will also measure the amount of fluid behind the neck of the baby - this test is called the nuchal translucency. 
• This measurement, along with the baby’s age, your age, and the results of the biochemical tests will allow us to calculate the individual chance of the baby having a chromosomal abnormality such as Down’s syndrome. 
• If the chance is increased, you will be offered the opportunity to discuss further with the doctor or midwife.
• The quadruple test is offered from 14+2 to 20+0 weeks. This test is called the Quad test and includes four markers: Free-beta HCG, AFP, Unconjugated Estriol and Inhibin-A. It will detect around 80% of Down’s syndrome cases. Read more about Quad Tests. 
• If you book after 14 weeks and 1 days, you can still have a blood test. This test is called the Quad test and looks at four markers: Free-beta HCG, AFP, Unconjugated Estriol and Inhibin-A. It will detect around 80% of Down’s syndrome cases. Read more about Quad Tests. 
• If it is considered appropriate for further follow up tests, the appropriate diagnostic tests will either be chorionic villus sampling (CVS) where a small amount of afterbirth is tested under ultrasound, or amniocentesis where a small amount of fluid from around the baby is tested. 
• A 20-week screening scan is undertaken between 18 and 20 weeks and checks the development of the baby.