MATERNAL SCREENING

MICHELLE SEXTON: michelle-sexton@uiowa.edu

The Iowa Maternal Prenatal Screening Program offers four serum screening options to provide patients and health care providers with information about pregnancy and the developing fetus, as well as a confirmatory test performed on amniotic fluid for open neural tube defects. The patient/provider may choose from a menu of screening choices offered which include a serum sample drawn during the first or the second trimester of pregnancy, or combine results of samples drawn from each of the first and second trimesters for a combined risk called Integrated Screening, which results in an increased detection rate for Down syndrome.

Screenings are available to all Iowa women during pregnancy and are designed to identify women with an increased risk of having a baby with Down syndrome (trisomy 21), Edwards syndrome (trisomy 18) or an open neural tube defect (e.g. anencephaly or spina bifida). They may also identify women at increased risk of having a baby with other kinds of birth deficiencies, or women at risk of developing a problem later in pregnancy. If an abnormality is identified, the woman’s medical provider is notified and may choose to perform additional testing. Genetic counseling is also made available for parents to help them make informed decisions about the pregnancy.