Has anyone had a high AFP result during pregnancy?

rolleypolleypud

Hi
I'm just wondering if anyone has any experience of this while they were pregnant?
I went for my down's blood test at 15 weeks and didn't really think anything else of it. Then on Sunday evening my midwife rang me and said that my down's result had come back low but I had a high level of AFP and that I needed to go to the hospital the next day to speak to a consultant.
I was kind of taken aback by this and just found myself saying ok without asking anything else.

On Monday I went to the hospital and saw a consultant who was lovely she told me afp can indicate abnormalities such as spina bifida and abdominal wall defects as well as slow growth and premature labour.
I had a scan and she said everything appeared fine and that they would look again at my 21 week scan as things would be even clearer then.
I left feeling relieved but now other questions keep popping into my head like could my baby have chromasone problems?
I hemorraged after giving birth to my daughter after suffering a retained placenta and that was worrying me incase it happened again this time but now this has also come up I find myself even more scared about my babies birth and the rest of my pregnancy.

I just wondered if anyone else has experience of this and weather you had extra tests or check ups throughout the rest of your pregnancy?

Sorry to waffle on but the more I think about it the more I worry.

Britwife

With my last pregancy, I chose not to have any of those tests because the accuracy rates just weren't high enough to warrant my worries.

I think most times the numbers come back with levels that are worrying and then everything turns out fine. I think if your scan came back ok then most likely your baby is perfect. Try not to worry too much. If it's upsetting enough, ask for a scan done sooner hun.

Hugs, I'm sure baby is fine.

Plans_all_plans

I too chose not to have any of the tests for the reasons Britwife has outlined. I agree that the child is likely to be ok if the scan came back ok.

jackieb

When I was pregnant with my daughter my AFP results came back fine. She was born with an encephalocele (a neural tube defect, similar to spina bifida, except the hole is in the skull and not the spine).

I also wonder about the results of these tests. Btw, if your baby does have some problems, things are not often as bad as they seem. My daughter is now 14 and is fine and healthy.

No point in telling you not to worry, is there? I hope everything turns out okay - and the next 6 weeks pass quickly for you. xx

clodagh_trubble

Hi

I had a high AFP result when I was expecting and the doctor painted a very black picture, I did choose to have an amniocentesis so I could know what the problem was and prepare friends and family if needed before my baby was born. Anyway the amnio was normal and now DS is a normal teenager (if those two words can be used in the same sentence). The test is not that accurate at all I think with both false negatives and positives

merlin68

Mine come back normal and my daughter had a chromosome abnormality, so i wouldn't worry about it. Twice i have had a disabled child and it hasn't been picked up before birth.

rolleypolleypud

Thank you everyone for your replies apart from Mr spammer-Hezitate!

To be honest I wish I hadn't agreed to the test. I very nearly didn't bother it was just a well I'm here now I may as well have the blood taken. Stupid of me really as I didn't have the test with either of my other two because I honestly believe I would love my babies no matter what.
It was nice to have a scan and see little one on the screen. The consultant was able to tell us we are having a little boy which we are thrilled about.

clairec79

I chose not to have the test but then my daughter was diagnosed with a renal anomaly on scan. I was told that if I had had the test that would have triggered a high result.

Apart from some additional tests on her as a baby and antibiotics daily as a precaution it has not affected her in the slightist and she's a normal, healthy 8 year old now (well now may be slightly misleading but she's as normal and healthy as any 8 year old with chicken pox)

moggins

My belief in these tests has been completely shot. I was told I had a high chance of downs from my blood tests so was advised to have an amnio. I also had to pay £75 to get the test results back early otherwise it would have meant weeks of worry and a very late termination. I had the amnio (horrible procedure) and luckily the results from that were fine.

DS is now 4 months old and the happiest healthiest chunk of a baby I have ever seen.

frugalfreda

Yes, I had a high AFP result during pregnancy at my 12 week bloods or I believe it did - it may have been another blood. The 12 week scan showed no abormalities but because the AFP (or blood) result was high, it meant that the odds for my baby having Downs was, from memory, something like 1 in 219. My options given to me were to wait until the 20 week scan to see if that brought up anything, have an amniocentesis but wait about 3 weeks or have a CVS (chorionic villus sampling) test the following week. For various reasons, we chose to have the CVS test and 3 days later, I was told that my baby didn't have downs or spina bifida.

Daughter was born 8 days overdue at 6 pounds and is an active 11 month old.

I expect that I may get similar blood test results with any subsequent pregnancies but I may not necessarily have a CVS or amino.

Britwife

I just want to add, please don't second guess yourself or say you were stupid for doing it. You did what you thought was best and that's all that matters.

My midwife told me the accuracy of the tests but I wonder if all the midwives give out the statistics.....