What is the California Prenatal Screening Program 1st and 2nd Trimester Screening?
This screening program is a non-invasive, step wise test that collects information about your pregnancy from the first trimester and the second trimester and integrates it in order to provide you with a personalized risk assessment for: • Down Syndrome • Trisomy 18 (severe mental retardation and birth defects) • Open spine defects such as spina bifida • Smith Lemli Opitz Syndrome (SLOS) (a rare form of mental retardation) This screening test will allow you to become better informed about the risks of these conditions to your pregnancy. Please remember that this is only a risk assessment. This test is NOT intended to diagnose the pregnancy with any of these conditions. If the testing reveals an increased risk, then genetic counseling and diagnostic testing options are available. How is this test performed? There are two steps that are performed in this screening program, one in the first trimester and one in the second trimester of pregnancy. Step 1 consists of a first trimester blood d
