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How an Amniocentesis Test Works
In a case like Aileen, we can see an example of what all our patients tell us that is this procedure is clearly far less than they anticipated. The discomfort level is less. Their anxiety before the procedure goes away very, very quickly because they find it to be not very painful at all.
The benefit of amniocentesis is always going to be, it’s going to give us very precise information about whether the fetus does or does not have a chromosome abnormality and for people who’ve been told they're high risk, it’s a very positive experience for them to say, “Yes, they’ve told me that the chromosomes are normal. I don’t have to worry about this.”
The procedure of amniocentesis is a very straightforward procedure. It uses a very small needle that’s guided by an ultrasound through mother’s abdomen and into the uterus and on into the sack that surrounds the fetus known as the Amniotic Cavity, then approximately an ounce of amniotic fluid is withdrawn that’s only about 10% of the amount of fluid that surround baby, so there's no real risk to baby from taking that fluid off.
In general, it’s described to be very much similar to having blood drawn. The risk of the amniocentesis are relativity few. Most people are bravely concern about the risks of injury to the fetus but using ultrasound, so that we can guide the needle particularly into the location away from the fetus. There is really no injury risks to the fetus at all. There is a small risk of miscarriage and that risk now is considered to be around one in a thousand death. For every thousand procedures we do, we expect one person to have a miscarriage from the procedure itself.
In Aileen's case, she asked the question about whether or not her weight was a concern from amniocentesis. Certainly, her weight was a concern in terms of her overall health but not from the perspective of the amniocentesis. We are generally going to do it at a stage in pregnancy in which we can reach the sack with ease. We have a various links of needles depending on the size that are necessary. But for the patient’s perspective, the length is not important. It’s how wide the needle is and these are still very thin needles and have no more discomfort for a person who’s obese and for a very thin person.
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