How Do You Identify Down Syndrome Risk Factors?
There are no definitive answers as to why a child is born with Down syndrome. With that in mind, it is hard to predict and identify specific risk factors for the disease. There are, however, certain things that increase the risk and that should be taken into consideration when conceiving and testing during pregnancy. If your doctor thinks you are at an especially high risk, he will recommend special tests. Read on to learn more about how to identify Down syndrome risk factors. Consider age. Older mothers have a significant higher risk of having a child with Down syndrome–one in 2,000 for 20-year-old mothers and one in 385 for 35-year-old mothers. Women over 45 have quite a high risk, so they are often subjected to more tests during pregnancy to make sure their babies are healthy. Forget ethnicity. There are no ethnicities that are more prone than others to have babies with Down syndrome. Some ethnicities are more likely than others to marry young because of cultural customs, thus redu
