Been MIA!

Have been MIA for a while and part of that was due to not being able to sign into my WordPress account and getting an error page every time. I decided to have another go today and whoo hoooo… here I am!

A lot has happened over the past couple of months or so, most importantly I gave birth to a beautiful fifth daughter eleven days ago. I had a normal, uncomplicated delivery Alhamdu Lillah.

So now I am getting used to the whole breastfeeding thing again and having six children in tow when we go out instead of five – I have to do a head count now to make sure noone is left behind!

More to come insha’Allah!

Antenatal testing in Saudi Arabia

At the weekend, I went to my local hospital for my first ultrasound scan of this pregnancy. I have never been one to accept screening and diagnostic tests during pregnancy and this pregnancy will be no different. However, I do like to have one early scan (around 14 weeks) just to check on the baby since I won’t feel him/her move until around 18 weeks, and also to check on the placenta. I was glad that I had been pre-warned by a friend that my hospital performs the Nuchal Translucency Scan so when the sonographer asked me to roll over so she could measure the baby’s neck I remembered what my friend had said and quickly asked her not to perform that part of the ultrasound.

I feel quite angry that the hospital performs this screening test without first informing patients and checking they want the test and understand the implications. A screening test is different from a diagnostic test in that it only gives a risk factor for certain conditions and NOT a definitive answer. If you are told that your baby is a high risk of having Down’s Syndrome then you will need further diagnostic tests such as amnioncentesis or CVS if you wish to determine for certain whether or not the baby you are carrying has Down’s Syndrome or some other chromosomal abnormality.

What I don’t understand is why this test is routinely performed in Saudi Arabia – it gives only a risk factor, chromosomal abnormalities cannot be fixed before or after the birth and termination of pregnancy is not available here. From my point of view, I prefer to find out about any problems after the birth rather than having a diagnostic test that carried it’s own risks (1/100 risk of miscarriage after amnioncentesis; 2/100 risk of miscarriage after CVS). I put my trust in Allah that He knows what is best for me, I make du’a to Allah throughout my pregnancy for the best outcome.

I wonder if I am on my own here or if there are others who feel the same way about screening and diagnostic tests in pregnancy.