Antenatal and newborn screening

This video shows which tests are available during pregnancy and after your baby has been born.

The tests you will be offered as part of the Government’s National Screening Antenatal and Newborn Screening Programmes are:

• Infectious diseases screening

This is a blood test to test for HIV/Hepatitis B and Syphilis. If these diseases are detected in early pregnancy treatment can be started to prevent infection in the baby and keep the mother healthy.

• Sickle cell and Thalassaemia screening

This is a blood test and is offered based on the ethnicity of the mother and the biological father of the baby. It identifies couples with an increased chance of having a baby with a serious haemoglobinopathy..

• Combined test/quadruple test

All pregnant women in England are offered the combined test for Down’s syndrome and/or Edwards’ and Patau’s syndromes.

The combined test involves a blood test and a nuchal translucency (NT) ultrasound scan in the first trimester of pregnancy, normally around 12 weeks. If you have found out that you are pregnant after this time, you can still be screened for Down’s syndrome, and Edwards’ and Patau’s syndrome up to 14 weeks and 1 day.

If your pregnancy is beyond 14+1 weeks at the time of scan or the NT measurement cannot be obtained you can still be screened for Down’s syndrome via the Quadruple test. This is a blood test only and can be performed between 15 and 20 + 0 weeks of pregnancy.

These tests do not tell you for definite if your baby is affected by one of these conditions but put you in a low or high chance category. Further discussions will be had if you result come back as a higher chance result.