The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released a new recommendation this month regarding testing for Down Syndrome. According to the news release the ACOG is recommending that all pregnant women, no matter their age, be offered genetics counseling and diagnostic testing for Down Syndrome. Previously this testing and counseling was only automatically offered to pregnant women if they were over the age of 35.

Screening for your risk of Down Syndrome should be done prior to the 20^th week of pregnancy, and the ACOG is recommending that all pregnant women consider a less invasive screening. The goal of this recommendation is to offer screening tests to all pregnant women that have a high detection rate with low false positive results. More invasive diagnostic testing would be offered to those women whose screening results indicate a high risk of having a child with Down Syndrome.

The ACOG hopes that by making this recommendation and providing prenatal caregivers with adequate educational materials about the screenings that there will be more standardization among obstetricians. The hope is to offer more women the option of having the screening done, and decrease the use of unnecessary invasive testing.

Down Syndrome is a fairly common disorder that is caused by an extra chromosome and causes congenital heart defects and mental retardation. Down Syndrome occurs in approximately one out of every 733 births in the United States. For more information about Down Syndrome visit the National Down Syndrome Society website.