Scary Down's Syndrome Statistics?
Personally I find the statistics we get about Down's Syndrome somewhat confusing.
So I translated them into percentages.
I think it is all too easy to think of 1-80 as one in 80%, but it is not.
1-80 translates to 1.25 % for DS, or 98.75% chance of NOT having Down Syndrome...
Maternal age as a risk factor for occurrence of Down's SyndromeWhat I get from this is the chances of having a baby with Down's Syndrome does not go up as drastically as I had originally thought.
Age...Stats...Percentage DS...Percentage... not having Down's Syndrome
36....... 1/200.......0.5% DS.............or 99.5% NOT
37........1/150.......0.666667% DS.....or 99.333333% NOT
38........1/120.......0.833333% DS....or 99.166667% NOT
39........1/100.......1% DS...................or 99% NOT
40........1/75 ........1.33333% DS........or 98.66667% NOT
41........1/60........1.66667% DS........or 98.33333% NOT
42........1/45........2.22222% DS.......or 97.77778% NOT
43.........1/35 .......2.85714% DS......or 97.14286% NOT
44.........1/30........3.33333% DS.....or 96.66667% NOT
45+.......1/20........5% DS ...............or 95% NOT
Source: Genetics Of Down Syndrome
The one in whatever numbers makes things look very bad for us.
When I translated them however to percentages, they look a lot better.
We have a better chance of having a baby without Down's Syndrome.
If I had an illness and was told I had a 95% chance of getting better, I would not plan my funeral.
Would you?
I think all too many doctors are giving misleading statistics for a couple of reasons.
The first being OB/GYN's are the highest sued doctors in the US.
So they pay the highest premiums.
They do not want to take any chances of anyone saying they were not warned about Down's Syndrome so they push for Amnios.
Second, they get paid a lot to do Amnios.
Unlike NT's and Level Two sonograms, the OB/GYN who recommends them usually does them as well.
I got a bill for my amnio because the hospital miss filed it as
elective surgery.
I cleared it up and did not have to pay.
The total was about 10,000 US dollars. Six thousand of which was going to my OB/GYN alone. So money is a factor as well.
Who do you think ends up paying that high insurance rate?
NOTE: This article was written by my good friend Jillian from FertilityFriend.com
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Category: feature
Scary is not a word that I use to describe my beautiful 6 year old with Down Syndrome.
So true Johannah! My eyes were opened when I watch Life Goes On with Corky, a young man with Down Syndrome. What an incredible character and actor he was! There was so much I did not know or understand about Down Syndrome before that.
In the context of the post, doctors often use these statistics to frighten older moms from attempting to conceive.
How much does the risk go up after age 45? My mom's 53, and she's worried about having a baby with Down's Syndrome.
I'm so glad I came across this post. I was just trying to figure out the percentage for Downs myself. I had my first child a day before my 41st b-day and am in the process of trying for number 2. I turned 44 in Feb. and am waiting for all of my test results to come back. Wish me luck!!
Wishing you baby buckets full of luck!!
I think that your comment is what is misleading. It is a fact that women over the age of forty have very alarming percentages of having babies be born with many different health disabilities, including prematurity. Looking at one comment that you made about OBGYN's being the most sued physician in the US, lets ask ourselves WHY? There are MANY MANY problems that can and do occur for women when having babies, especially those over the age of 35. There are physical changes that occur in our bodies at that age that make it much more likely for us women to possibly experience a great list of problems during pregnancy. That is not a conspiracy, it is basic science. Doctors are there to protect us form what they know and what we simply DO NOT KNOW, unless you are a physician yourself. Not to mention that almost every preventitive measure that an OBGYN makes is a requirement by the National Institute of Gynechology and Obstetrics and most of the way that they practice is led bylaws that are in place for a reason; to protect people. So, all I am saying is your comment took such a narrow view and was basically all opinion.