Prenatal screening tests facilitate risk assessment

Medical technology continues to improve services and testing to provide accurate and timely information for physicians and patients. New screening protocols in which information obtained in the first and second trimesters is integrated to improve detection and lower false positive rates have potential for safer and more effective prenatal care. Families still have difficult choices to make when confronted with the diagnosis of a birth defect. Inherent advantages of early detection are reassurance for low-risk women sooner, and for women with increased risk, more time to consider all options. Without doubt, improvements in risk assessment, diagnosis, and prevention will continue. The advantage offered by laboratory procedures is that the preliminary diagnosis can be made by simple, noninvasive screening tests.