The earliest symptoms of pregnancy can appear in the first few weeks after conception. In addition to a missed period, classic symptoms of pregnancy can include nausea, tender breasts, dizziness, increased urination and mood swings.
You may start to feel these affects just weeks after conception. The proof is in the pregnancy test, so take a home pregnancy test, or see your GP who will take a urine sample and check for you.
At Femplus we can offer you two very important services at the very early stages of pregnancy.
These include:
1. Early pregnancy scan
2. First trimester testing for Chromosomal abnormalities
1. The Early pregnancy scan offers an ultrasound performed in the first trimester. We can determine exactly how many weeks you are pregnant, confirm the presence of the baby’s heartbeat, where the pregnancy is located and look for multiples. You may have an inconclusive scan result which means a second ultrasound will be needed in 7 – 10 days time to make sure all is ok. A full bladder is required for these scans.
2. The First Trimester Diagnosis (The Harmony Prenatal Test)Â is a new non invasive test which is available to assess the risk for chromosome conditions such as Down Syndrome and other trisomy conditions. The test can also evaluate fetal sex and sex chromosome (X,Y) conditions. It is a simple, safe and accurate blood test to evaluate the risk of certain fetal trisomies.
What is a trisomy?
A trisomy is a chromosomal condition that occurs when there are three copies of a particular chromosome instead of the expected two. There can be Trisomy 21 (an extra copy of chromosome 21, which is linked to Down Syndrome), Trisomy 18 (which causes Edwards Syndrome and is associated with a high rate of miscarriage) and 13 Trisomy (which is due to an extra copy of chromosome 13, which causes Patau syndrome, associated with a high rate of miscarriage and severe heart defects).
The Harmony Prenatal Test determines the risk of these fetal trisomies by measuring the relative amount of chromosomes in maternal blood. The Harmony test assesses the risks of trisomies 21, 18 and 13 in the fetus, but does not rule out all fetal abnormalities. The Harmony Prenatal Test detects >99% of fetal trisomy 21 cases at a false positive rate of <0.1%.
They can be arranged for women with pregnancies of at least 10 weeks’ gestational age. It is available for any pregnancy, including those conceived by IVF.
Author Rita Galimberti Femplus Clinic