Im 13 weeks pregnant and im 18 years old should i be worried about testing for down syndrome ?

Well I was tested during both of my pregnancies (I was 16 and pregnant with twins the first time). I feel it is better to be safe than sorry.

At thirteen weeks you should still be able to have a nuchal translucency test. In combination with a blood test the ultrasound measures a fold of skin at the back of the babies neck and depending on its thickness and in combination with the results of the blood test your risk factor for having a child with downs syndrome can either increase or decrease. Depending on the result you could also have your baby tested with an amniocentesis however that test carries a risk for your baby while the nuchal test doesn't and would usual only be performed if there was a high risk factor.

Unless you have some reason to truly think your baby could have it (such as a close relative with it) I would skip it. For many reasons: 1. If you found out the baby did have it would you abort it? If not then you'd just put yourself under more stress and possibly do more damage to the baby because of the stress. 2. Some insurance companies actually will label it a pre-existing condition and not cover it if it shows in the test! 3. The tests are not 100% accurate. 4. Depending on your doctor if it was found the baby did have it, they may label you as high risk, which could cause you to change doctors and have a crappier and more stressful (extra appointments, more specific diet, extra weigh ins, etc etc) pregnancy. I wouldn't worry about it. Good luck with the pregnancy!

I wasn't worried about any of that stuff either. I was 23 when I was pregnant with my 1st and the test for spina bifida/down symdrome came back abnormal. I then went for an ultrasound for them to rule it out...but I was still watched closely for the remainder of my pregnancy. I had tons of ultrasounds and doctors appointment. About twice as many appts as the average person would. Everything turned out okay for me. Good Luck! That test has a 90% false positive rate. I can't believe they even do it still.

i was worried when i first fel pregnant with my two kids, but honestly when i had the test it said that i was low risk on both, i wouldnt have a problem with having a down syndrome child but it would be hard work thats all! dont worry it will be fine hun

There are blood test avaliable but they only test for your risk of having a down syndrome baby not if your baby actually is or not

dont be worried, the chance is 1in2000 :)

btw the first test they do is just by ultrasound, i think they look for the bone at the end of the nose, i know that sounds stupid buy babys with down syndrome past 11 weeks dont have that bone

I was 17 when i had my first born.I did get tested because everyone has a chance of having a child born with down syndrome.

I tested because i wanted to know so I could be better prepared for when the baby would be born.I would know what to expect :)

im 17 and 12 and a half weeks pregnant.

im not that worried about testing for it.

i know cos of my age im very low risk yeah its still possible but more unlikely for someone of our age.

i don't think so. i am 31 weeks and 18 and nothing is wrong with my baby she is perfectly healthy. if you want to have it done bring it up with your doctor and they will tell you if you should or not as there is a lot of risk involved in having it done