MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Advancements in science and technology mean parents-to-be can find out how their baby will look, and even learn about serious health problems long before the child is born.
In fact, delivering the baby itself is about all expecting moms have to wait for these days.
Parents like Nicole and Landon Williams can get a better glimpse of how their baby is growing thanks to 3d/4d ultrasounds.
WREG met the couple at First Impressions in Cordova where they’d made an appointment for an ultrasound to determine the sex of their firstborn.
“It was a total coincidence that I wore pink today, but she doesn’t think so,” said Landon of his shirt.
“I think it’s a sign!”Nicole exclaimed.
Besides advanced imaging, there are do-it-yourself fetal, heartbeat monitors and even at home gender determination kits.
“That’s how far we’ve come. There are actually blood tests that will tell you the gender of your child,” Dr. Susan Murrmann with McDonald Murrmann Women’s Clinic explained.
Dr. Murrmann was talking about the latest options in pre-natal testing.
Traditionally, pregnant women were screened for chromosomal abnormalities like Down Syndrome, and a high-risk result would mean more invasive, diagnostic testing like an amniocentesis.
Newer tests like Panorama, Harmony and MaterniT21 PLUS can screen for those problems as early as nine weeks.
More importantly, Dr. Murrmann said they deliver faster and much more reliable results.
“Now the tests are taking the mom’s blood and actually dividing up the cells into the baby’s DNA and the mother’s DNA. It then takes that baby’s DNA, looking at gender, looking for chromosomal abnormalities, looking for other disorders,” said Dr. Murrmann.
Asia Taylor and her husband Ben are expecting their second child.
Taylor said she was offered testing early in her second trimester.
“They offered me around that time where I could have the option to pay to have the Harmony test, prenatal testing done which is more like through DNA, so they can test a lot sooner and give you the gender of your baby,” she said.
Taylor opted for conventional screening, covered by her insurance.
Harmony would have cost extra.
“I think that was around like $200,” added Taylor.
Without insurance, the tests can run up to $2,000.
Price is just one of the problems.
When most women hear they need screening period, their reaction is probably similar to Taylor’s.
“As soon as I hear testing for birth defects, I was just like okay,” she said.
Capitalizing on that fear is the other criticism.
Could physicians be pushing patients toward tests that might be unnecessary?
Dr. Murrmann said the tests could be oversold, depending upon how the doctor explains the process.
There are also women who continue to share stories about inaccurate results or a lack of information altogether.
“That’s the scary part, but you have to educate the physicians, and you have to educate the patients,” Dr. Murrmann added.
“My doctor has been really good about breaking things down for me so that I understand exactly what’s going on,” Taylor said.
Communication that’s critical for today’s mom-to-be.
Dr. Murrmann said what women don’t need is for too much information about testing or technology to create an anxiety-filled pregnancy.
Meanwhile, Nicole and Landon’s biggest challenge thus far was coming up with a way to reveal the news to their family.
It seems Landon’s pink shirt, predicted the truth all along!
WREG was in the room when they learned they’d be having a baby girl!
“Wow, wow, I totally knew it,” exclaimed Nicole.
The Food and Drug Administration advises against keepsake imaging because there’s no control over the time frame of the ultrasound since it’s not being done for a medical reason.
The agency has also warned against at home fetal, heartbeat monitors.
As far as newer prenatal testing, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends traditional screening for women who aren’t high risk.
The organization also said women should have counseling about screenings before and after to learn about all of their options, including the fact that they can opt out of screening all together.
ACOG also said it’s important for physicians to explain to patients that high-risk results will require additional screening and diagnostic testing.