NHS Suffolk and North East Essex - Your Pregnancy Booklet

17 Antenatal care If your blood group comes back as ‘rhesus negative’ you may be offered some further tests, or you may be offered an injection of something called ‘Anti-D’ during pregnancy. Around 15% of women are ‘rhesus negative’. Your midwife will explain this to you fully if needed. Screening tests A screening test can find out if you, or your baby, have a high or low chance of having a health problem. Inside the cells of our bodies there are tiny structures called chromosomes. These chromosomes carry the genes that determine how we develop. You will be offered a screening test to see how likely it is that your baby will have a problem with their chromosomes (Down’s, Edward’s or Patau’s syndrome). This test can be performed from 11 to 20 weeks and involves you having a scan and a blood test. There are several different testing options available, so it is worth researching this early on. You will be contacted by the hospital if the results come back as high risk and offered further testing. You do not have to have any testing if you don’t want to. Ultrasound scans It’s important to remember that scans are another kind of test to confirm the health of your baby. You will normally be offered two scans in pregnancy . The first is known as the dating scan at around 12 weeks of pregnancy and the second (sometimes called the anomaly scan) is performed at around 20 weeks gestation. This second scan will look in detail at your baby’s bones, heart, brain, spine, face, kidneys and tummy. It is important to remember that the scan cannot find everything that could be wrong with your baby. If you wish to know the sex of your baby, you can ask the sonographer, although it isn’t always possible to see clearly. The results of your scan will be given to you on the day by the sonographer completing the scan. Most hospitals will provide you with scan pictures at a small cost.