While most women give birth to healthy babies, about 3-5% of babies have a major birth defect such as a neural tube defect (spina bifida) or a heart defect. During a genetic counseling appointment, you will meet with one of our genetic counselors to review your family history, ethnicity, personal health and pregnancy history to evaluate if you have any additional pregnancy risks. We will also review appropriate prenatal screening and diagnostic tests for your specific situation. We will do our best to answer all your specific questions about testing options or family history concerns.

This information can assist in making decisions regarding testing, but you will not be told what to do. We are simply here to help sort through the complex information and variety of choices that may be available. Choosing to pursue with testing or deciding not to have testing are both equally valid decisions. Our goal is to ensure that you and your family are comfortable with the decision and that you feel you made an informed choice.

Prenatal genetic counseling is often recommended for any of the following reasons:

You (or your partner) ...

• have a genetic disorder or birth defect
• will be 35 years of age or more at the time of expected delivery
• have a previous child with a birth defect or genetic conditionz
• have experienced a stillbirth or multiple miscarriages with no known explanation
• have a medical condition such as epilepsy or insulin-dependent diabetes that requires that you take medications
• or someone in your family have a child with mental retardation or developmental delay
• want to know more about testing for recessive genetic diseases that are common for certain ethnic backgrounds (for example, sickle cell disease, Tay-Sachs disease, cystic fibrosis)
  
• have a positive screening test result, such as the triple or quad maternal serum screen
• have had an ultrasound examination that reveals a physical abnormality or variation in the fetus
• have concerns about the chance of having a child with a birth defect or genetic disease and wish to learn more about available testing