Understanding NIPT - Your Guide to Safer Pregnancy Screening

What is NIPT
NIPT stands for Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing. It is a type of prenatal screening test that analyses the cell-free DNA (cfDNA) fragments from the placenta that circulate in a pregnant woman's blood. This test can be done from 10 weeks and provides information about the genetic health of a developing fetus without posing any risk to the pregnancy. It predominantly screens for 3 chromosomal anomalies:

Down’s Syndrome (Trisomy 21 or T21 – over 99% detection rate)
Edward’s Syndrome (Trisomy 18 or T18 – 97.4% detection rate)
Patau’s Syndrome (Trisomy 13 or T13 – 93.8% detection rate)
The figures above are the published detection rates for the Harmony NIPT.

Unlike its predecessor, Combined Screening, NIPT is the most accurate and modern method to screen for Down's Syndrome. Combined Screening, developed in the 90s, offers an 80-90% detection rate with a 5% false positive rate. In contrast, NIPT’s detection rate is 1/10,000 or over 99.99%, along with a 0.3% false positive rate for most providers.*

However, it is important to note that NIPT is not a diagnostic test and does not provide a definitive yes/no answer. For a high probability test, our doctors will refer you for an invasive diagnostic test such as CVS or amniocentesis. These are not generally recommended for low-chance results as they carry a small chance of miscarriage.

*Disclaimer: NIPT statistics may vary according to different sources. It is important to understand the statistics behind the NIPT test, please visit our website for a full explanation about detection rates, false positives and the sensitivity of the test.

Comprehensive Screening
At @londonpregnancyclinic our fetal medicine specialist doctors, with extensive NHS and international experience, provide same-day, evening, and weekend appointments. With our advanced structural and chromosomal screening tests, starting from 10 weeks, you can screen for three chromosomal conditions using NIPT and detect at least ten severe structural anomalies through our detailed scans.

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