The chromosome abnormality Down Syndrome (DS) takes place when an individual has a full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21. Down syndrome is a mental disability that can affect a person 's personality, health, and physical appearance. Women can catch this genetic disorder early in pregnancy by diagnostic testing. Although both parents are carriers of DS the mother 's age can make the percentage of the baby having Down syndrome higher. Children with DS have harder time learning because of this disability. Many women are diagnosed during pregnancy through different types of diagnostic testing. Although DS can be a life threatening illness most people diagnosed can live an average life, with some assistance …show more content…
Down syndrome can be diagnosed in the prenatal stages of life. Noninvasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) is a blood test performed during the tenth week of pregnancy. With NIPT, cell-free DNA can be examined for evidence of aneuploidy (an extra or missing chromosome) (Thompson 2015). NIPT is given to women, who are thirty-five or older, abnormality in Hiraldo 3 ultrasound and history of DS. Nuchal Translucency screening test is done by ultrasound to measure the neck of the fetus, when there is an abnormality fluid collects in the neck tissue.
Amniocentesis is a sample of the amniotic fluid surrounding the fetus is withdrawn through a needle inserted into the mothers ' uterus in a study by mayoclinic.org (pg2). Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) is a test when cells are taken from the placenta to be tested for DS. Although some of these diagnostic tests can diagnose Down syndrome in early stages of pregnancy some women chose to take an abortion if positive for DS. If the mother decides to go through with the pregnancy the child will go through newborn screening test, the most common test is checking the facial structure. Down syndrome is genetic but there are other risk factors associated with the disease such as, women over 35 have a higher risk of DS in