RISK OF AMNIOCENTESIS !!!

Dear Girls:
A few days ago, I posted a thread announcing the death of my baby boy at 21 weeks of pregnancy. I have just come back from hospital and the loss of my baby was due to important loss of amniotic fluid following the amniocentesis test we performed two weeks ago. I started this new thread to draw your attention to the fact that amnios can be an unnecesary risk.
We wanted to make sure our baby was healthy and we have involuntarily caused his death, the death of a perfectly healthy baby.
We have the result of the test, which came back perfect but we no longer have our baby.
To those who are pregnant or plan to be, please be aware of the risks of the amniocentesis and stay away from it unless you fear for some special reason that your baby could really be not normal.
I know the risk of losing a baby after an amnio is small, but it can happen.
Our baby was perfectly healthy and we sacrificed him unnecesarily for the sake of certainty.
Do not incur in this risk if you can avoid it.
We deeply regret our decision.

I'm so sorry. Did your water break or had you been leaking fluid?

Neither. Since I usually have a lot of vaginal discharge in general (when I'm not pregnant I'm usually a heavy CM producer), maybe I did not notice some fluid leaking or confused it with discharge. I had been warned I should only watch out for blood discharge like a period, not for a simple colourless discharge.

I am so sorry for your loss. My heart and prayers go out to you and your family.

Thank you, mydream!

I am so sorry. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

How awful, pink carol! I'm so sorry you've had to go through this. :HH:

Carol, I'm SO sorry. Please don't blame yourself, I find that many doctors are very hard-sell on the amnios for women over 35 and it's very hard not to listen to what they say. Wishing you the very best for peace and healing :heart:

I'm so sorry pink carol :( My thoughts and well wishes go out to you and your family.

Thank you for posting, I have been very uncomfortable with the thought of amnio and have been trying to convince my husband.

Carol, I am so so sorry for your loss.
I have been thinking about this myself. I'm not pregnant yet, but I'm 40 and I'm fearful that they'll want to do an amnio when I become pregnant. It is something I will definitely put a lot of thought into and what happened to you will be a big consideration.
Praying for peace for you and your family..

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Originally Posted by BeadinMom

Carol, I am so so sorry for your loss.
I have been thinking about this myself. I'm not pregnant yet, but I'm 40 and I'm fearful that they'll want to do an amnio when I become pregnant. It is something I will definitely put a lot of thought into and what happened to you will be a big consideration.
Praying for peace for you and your family..

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I'm the same as you... 40, not pregnant yet, but thinking hard about this.

Thank you Carol for sharing with us. My heart is breaking for you.

Dear Carol, as soon as I read about your amnio the other day I thought this could have been the cause for your loss but I didn't want to go there. Then again, nothing is certain as to why the little ones are called home. I am deeply sorry for your loss. I hope that the Lord will strengthen you, and that you can in time conceive again with your hubby when you are ready. My thoughts and prayers will come your way now. :HH: :sadflwr:

Thank you all girls! I thought I had to share on this because I let myself get convinced on the amnio and I feel I sacrificed a healthy baby for nothing.

Thank you for sharinh your story. You and your family are still in my thoughts and prayers. Hugs!

Im so sorry,for your loss:heart:
I have really been wrestling with this ,my doctor has been pushing me and my Dh ,and i dont want to ..but now i feel strong to not do it!Thank you for sharing that Pink Carol xoxo

I'm so very sorry for your loss :(

For those over 35, there is a new blood test out - MaterniT21. It tests for Trisomy 13, 18, & 21 and it's seeing great success. For 21 it's nearly as accurate as an amino. With just a simple bloodtest from the mother. Something to think about. Ask your OB! Or check out the Down Syndrome board on babycenter, lots of info there.

Nestof3, thanks so much for posting that! I was going to ask if there were alternatives...I'm glad to know there are.

Oh my gosh. I can't even imagine. I am so, so sorry. :(

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Originally Posted by nestof3

I'm so very sorry for your loss :(

For those over 35, there is a new blood test out - MaterniT21. It tests for Trisomy 13, 18, & 21 and it's seeing great success. For 21 it's nearly as accurate as an amino. With just a simple bloodtest from the mother. Something to think about. Ask your OB! Or check out the Down Syndrome board on babycenter, lots of info there.

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This test has not been implemented yet. Probably in a year or two, only. For the time being the only test 100% sure are the amnio and the chorionic sample villing, both risky.

Oh, Carol, I am so sorry to read this. Thank you for sharing what happened. It is NOT your fault -- that could have been any of our babies, and yes, it is such a hard sell by the doctors. Sending you hugs, and wishing that were enough to take away the heartbreak.

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Originally Posted by atomic sagebrush

Please don't blame yourself, I find that many doctors are very hard-sell on the amnios for women over 35 and it's very hard not to listen to what they say. Wishing you the very best for peace and healing :heart:

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Unfortunately, this is so true :(
They make it sound if you don't do the amnio, it will be your fault if the baby had some problems :(

My ob/gyn was pushing me to do the amnio due to my age (39) but at the end I didn't do it and I still have some fears in the back of my mind baby won't be healthy.
Big hugs to you mama :HH:

I am so sorry to hear this has happened to you pink carol. Please try to take care of yourself.

I am so very sorry Carol....my thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family.

I just did a search on amnio and found your post. I'm am so deeply sorry for your loss...and am praying your find some peace during this very difficult time. I am 40 and recently found out I am pregnant (after testing poorly for ovarian reserve FSH 20, AMH .4). I have been very worried that this baby was produced from a poor quality follicle and I was certain I would get an amnio with this pregnancy (I didn't with my other 2). Thank you for taking the time to post your story -- you definitely have me thinking about my decision now.

That's not true - the MaterniT21 test is available in all 50 states. I know that for a fact.

Right now there are stipulations - you must be 35 or older, have a history of Trisomy issues OR have a high risk via 1st tri screening and/or soft marker(s) on an ultrasound.

I am so sorry for you loss. Thank you fur educating all of us on the risks of

On an amnio. I pray women won't allow dr.'s to push then into getting one.
Praying fur you and your family.

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Originally Posted by ILindGurl

I just did a search on amnio and found your post. I'm am so deeply sorry for your loss...and am praying your find some peace during this very difficult time. I am 40 and recently found out I am pregnant (after testing poorly for ovarian reserve FSH 20, AMH .4). I have been very worried that this baby was produced from a poor quality follicle and I was certain I would get an amnio with this pregnancy (I didn't with my other 2). Thank you for taking the time to post your story -- you definitely have me thinking about my decision now.

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I would not assume that at all. Most abnormals just don't stick. Technology has come such a long way, with the use of ultrasound, early bloodwork and 4D imaging if necessary, unless there is something with your family history or something seen on u/s, most children are just fine.

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Originally Posted by ILindGurl

I just did a search on amnio and found your post. I'm am so deeply sorry for your loss...and am praying your find some peace during this very difficult time. I am 40 and recently found out I am pregnant (after testing poorly for ovarian reserve FSH 20, AMH .4). I have been very worried that this baby was produced from a poor quality follicle and I was certain I would get an amnio with this pregnancy (I didn't with my other 2). Thank you for taking the time to post your story -- you definitely have me thinking about my decision now.

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I don't think that an amnio needs to be routine based on age alone. The screening tests can work just as well for older mamas as for the younger ones. I just got my IPS (integrated pregnancy screen = NT + blood at 12.5 weeks + blood at 16 weeks) and bizarrely my risk is lower than it's been in any other pregnancy even though I'm almost 7 years older than I was with my first (and he was very low risk too)! So do the screens and u/s first and see what your risk is, then decide if an amnio makes sense. Sadly amnios carry a certain amount of risk and Carol's sad story is a reminder of that.

Carol, I'm so, so sorry you lost your baby! It is beyond unfair and devastating, especially then having the amnio results come back perfect. But please don't blame yourself. You were just trying to make sure than the baby was healthy, and that is done out of love. *hugs*

I agree. Carol this is not your fault. And I apologize, I just realized you aren't in the US so you are right , I believe MaterniT21 isn't available outside the US yet :(

Again so sorry for your loss :(:(

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Originally Posted by Zivic-Bubac

Unfortunately, this is so true :(
They make it sound if you don't do the amnio, it will be your fault if the baby had some problems :(

My ob/gyn was pushing me to do the amnio due to my age (39) but at the end I didn't do it and I still have some fears in the back of my mind baby won't be healthy.
Big hugs to you mama :HH:

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I know that you have some fears left if you don't do the amnio. Problem is, now I have a certificate to attest that my baby was 100% healthy but I dont' have my baby anymore. That is much worse, believe me!!

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Originally Posted by nestof3

That's not true - the MaterniT21 test is available in all 50 states. I know that for a fact.

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Nestof3, I live in Switzerland. In Europe it has not been implemented yet.

Oh I am so sorry to hear this, my GP is dead against amnio's. I was going to get one with my last baby, and he told me not to...

Carol I am so sad to hear about your loss! You're so lovely to think of others at this difficult time! I agree you didn't sacrifice your baby, you had no idea this would happen! He'll always be with you and I'm thinking about you, what a horrible thing to go through.

Oh carol, I am so very sorry for your loss. Thankyou for sharing your story with us and warning us all. The idea of an amnio has always froghtened the hell out of me and you have just reinforced my feeling that I would never have one. I am so sorry your dr pushed you into it. They so often don't consider that it's not their life they play with when giving advice. They fill us full of the worst case scenario fears and unfortunately we end up making decisions based on that.
I hope you can find some peace soon and recognise that it was not your fault. We all place our faith in the medical profession and sometimes it lets us down.
Big hugs. XXX

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Originally Posted by pink carol

This test has not been implemented yet. Probably in a year or two, only. For the time being the only test 100% sure are the amnio and the chorionic sample villing, both risky.

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I'm so sorry for your loss, and its such a shame that this simple blood test is not issued as standard where you are. Here in the UK every mother is offered (sometimes they don't even offer, they just tell you!) with the standard blood tests they do through pregnancy. They then send you a letter with the results on - for my first son it was 1 in 2,000 chance of an issue, for my second it was 1 in 1,000,000 which my midwife had never seen. If you have a less than 1 in 250 chance, then they recommend the amnio but explain the risks. We have such a compensation culture here that they cover themselves with as much information as possible.

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Originally Posted by Northern_Shutterbug

I'm so sorry for your loss, and its such a shame that this simple blood test is not issued as standard where you are. Here in the UK every mother is offered (sometimes they don't even offer, they just tell you!) with the standard blood tests they do through pregnancy. They then send you a letter with the results on - for my first son it was 1 in 2,000 chance of an issue, for my second it was 1 in 1,000,000 which my midwife had never seen. If you have a less than 1 in 250 chance, then they recommend the amnio but explain the risks. We have such a compensation culture here that they cover themselves with as much information as possible.

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Here in Switzerland there is a blood test like the one you mention but I read it's not very reliable. It's mostly based on statistics, taking into account your age. I did a lot of research before embarking on the amnio and the new Maternity21 test is the most reliable blood test and non-invasive like an amnio, but it has not been implemented in Switzerland yet. Do you have any idea if you can do it in the UK? We agreed with my husband that next time we'll take this test and travel anywhere to take it if Switzerland does not offer it by next year.

Hi carol!!! Havent seen this thread. I am so so sorry, thanks to share it to all us. Hope you feel better :bighug:

Gracias, Mariposa! Todavía estoy muy triste y pienso en mi hombrecito, pero cada día me voy dando ánimo y trato de salir adelante. Un beso