Prenatal Testing
Prenatal testing provides us with important information about the baby’s health before it is born (during pregnancy). Thanks to these tests, both the future parents and the medical team will know the baby’s state of health in advance.
Types of prenatal tests
Nowadays there are two different types of tests that can be used to know the baby’s state of health once it has already been conceived: detection tests and diagnosis tests. Below you can read more about each of them:
Detection tests: thanks to these tests, which are usually performed during the first or second trimester of the pregnancy, we can know what the chances are for the baby to have birth defects generally related to genetic disorders.
It is important to note that prenatal detection tests do not offer a definitive diagnosis. If any of the results show disorders or anomalies, one should commonly perform diagnosis tests.
Diagnosis tests: these are the only tests that allow us to confirm whether a suspected disorder is real, which is why they are indicated if, due to the family or medical history, advanced age or an anomaly in a detection test, there are real risks for the baby to be born with a defect.
PGD-Labs prenatal genetic testing
At our Reproductive Genetics Laboratory in Kuwait, PGD-Labs performs the analysis of prenatal samples that are submitted to us from various centers. We perform prenatal tests to know whether the baby has any genetic disorder either in the amniotic fluid or the chorionic villi.
We apply different techniques depending on each patient and target results:
- Karyotype. In this case we examine the size, shape and number of chromosomes to detect genetic disorders in the fetus.
- QF-PCR (chromosomes 13, 18, 21 X and Y). This is a molecular technique based on the use of microsatellites for diagnosing aneuploidies. This allows us to evaluate the number of copies of each of the baby’s chromosomes.
- Array-CGH for the detection of variations in the number of copies. This is one of the most innovative methods to detect genetic disorders. It allows us to study the patient’s entire genome.
- Molecular analysis of a specific, known genetic mutation.
Do you want to know whether your baby is healthy? Ask your medical team; they will advise you on the most appropriate prenatal testing for you.
