Prenatal Diagnostics

A DNA-based technology

When you are pregnant, your blood contains fragments of your baby’s DNA. NIPT analyzes DNA in a sample of your blood to evaluate the probability of trisomy, sex chromosome aneuploidies, microdeletions and gender.

As early as 10 weeks

NIPT requires a single blood draw. It can be done as early as 10 weeks in pregnancy.

Ultrasound should be performed before drawing the blood sample. In part to determine the pregnancy duration and in part to see the number of fetuses. There are some advantages to doing the ultrasound in week 12 when the baby’s development and organs are more easily evaluated.

A more accurate test

NIPT is a screening test that is more accurate than traditional combined hormonal and nuchal translucency screening (FTS = KUB). NIPT is much less likely to give a false-positive result compared to traditional first trimester screening tests. That means there is much less chance your doctor would recommend follow-up diagnostic testing, such as amniocentesis.¹

NIPT predicts risk for certain chromosomal conditions: trisomy 21 (Down syndrome), trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome) and trisomy 13 (Patau syndrome). In addition, you have the option to evaluate fetal sex and risk for sex chromosome aneuploidies. Analysis of microdeletion 22q11.2 (DiGeorge syndrome) and other deletions/duplications can be included depending on the test package you choose.

Non-invasive prenatal testing based on cell-free DNA analysis is not considered diagnostic. Once you have your NIPT results, you can discuss your pregnancy care with your healthcare provider.