Screen test - antenatal screening for Down's syndrome
Screen test - antenatal screening for Down's syndrome
by Hayley Goleniowska, author of Downs Side Up
This week my article for Midwives journal is published: Issue 4 :: 2014
It needed to be cut, there was much more to say, but a word count prevailed, still an article on this topic in a medical journal for Midwives is a massive step forward. Emails from midwives have already begun to arrive. There is so much amazing practice around, but also so many sorry tales of lack of support at the time of screening.
Before Natalia was born, I unquestioningly believed, as do most prospective parents, that the recommended antenatal tests were for our peace of mind. I naively spouted that we didn’t mind what the sex of the baby was, 'as long as it was healthy'. I refused amniocentesis after an inconclusive nuchal fold scan, because of the 'risk of miscarriage to a healthy baby'.Looking back at that previous version of myself fills me with shame because of my deep-rooted belief that a baby with a disability is somehow worth less than a healthy one. But I also see that my prejudice and fear of Down’s syndrome was a product of the way society, and some within the medical profession, view the condition.
