Is Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing aka NIPT worth a miss?

“When in doubt, many tend to give the subject a miss, as we continue to believe ignorance is bliss”

In a country with a 25 million birth cohort pregnancy management is definitely not a smooth affair, as the involved include young adults to late-couples. Every pregnancy journey is different affected by age and history, something not in control. Counseling and progressing based on informed choices, is definitely though in our hand. Initial stages of child bearing generally involve the typical recommendation of a series of urine and blood tests to assess organ function as well as overall health. Important indeed!

Diagnostic blood tests during pregnancy involves testing for conditions like diabetes, infections and nutritional deficiencies, while certain serum-based antenatal screening tests are focused at studying the development of the unborn child. Though there is a plethora in availability of blood-testing options, preventing over-testing or diagnosis is crucial. Determining the apt recipient who can reap maximum benefit out of testing is a necessity and in pregnancy involving two lives avoiding anxiety at each stage is a big YES!

Cost of testing is also a big deterrent in the Indian market as unlike the developed economies, mass screening programs are yet not a Government initiative completely. With new advances in testing entering the market, the drawbacks of the traditional testing methodologies are being proven and thus it is indeed a necessity to embrace these scientifically-backed new entrants in the pregnancy testing market as well. As mentioned earlier…Two Lives…No Compromise!

Can you Miss NIPT Testing?

Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing or NIPT is a genetic test, powerful to study the unborn child’s genetic material; the DNA from the mother’s blood. Boon Indeed! Better before deciding the need to insert that one long needle in to the pregnant ladies tummy to draw amniotic fluid or take chorionic villi sampling (CVS). Beneficial to not expose pregnant women to even that 1% risk of miscarriage borne by the invasive tests. You definitely should not miss NIPT because;

1. Earliest screening test; as early as 10 weeks pregnancy
2. Studies DNA of the baby and hence high sensitivity
3. Advanced technology of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS)
4. Reduces anxiety and need for invasive tests
5. Proven to have superior outcome in comparison to traditional antenatal screening tests
6. Gifts valuable time to the couple to chart future course of action

NIPT is definitely a test to stay in the birth-rich Indian market. For a country which sees about 23,000 to 29,000 Down syndrome birth every year, up to 90% of the cases can be easily detected when opted for screening tests says an NIPT Indian Market Outlook 2022 report.

For NIPT;

• When there is history, age does not matter.
• If the idea is to make informed choices, first trimester is the stage to matter.
• If career or priorities was the calling, then age does matter.
• When you believe in the power of genetics, then choice does matter.
• If you seek affordability with quality, then in MATRNITY lies the answer.

Happy Learning!