the IONA test

Non-invasive prenatal screening test for Down’s syndrome and other serious genetic conditions
  During pregnancy the placenta leaks cell-free DNA which circulates in the maternal bloodstream. As a result, a maternal blood sample contains a mixture of fetal and maternal circulating DNA.
 
The IONA® test directly measures the amount of this cell-free DNA and can detect small changes in the DNA ratio between the maternal and cell-free DNA when a fetal trisomy 21, 18 or 13 is present.
  Traditional screening offered during pregnancy is currently called the combined test. This is an ultrasound scan to measure the nuchal translucency (NT) and a blood test. This is much less accurate than NIPT and it only detects around 85% of babies with Down’s syndrome. The IONA® test has a higher detection rate than the current combined test offered to pregnant women. This means that fewer pregnant women will undergo unnecessary invasive follow-up procedures such as amniocentesis or CVS* which are stressful, painful and can carry a small risk of miscarriage.
 

• Suitable for women who are at least 10 weeks pregnant.
• Suitable for all singleton and twin pregnancies.
• Suitable for IVF or surrogate pregnancies.
• Unsuitable for women with cancer or with a trisomy or who have undergone a blood transfusion within the last 12 months.

 

• Low risk: means that it is very unlikely your pregnancy is affected by trisomy 21, 18 or 13.
• High risk: means that your pregnancy is at increased risk for trisomy 21, 18 or 13 and the result should be confirmed by a follow up invasive procedure such as amniocentesis.
• No result: In rare cases there is insufficient fetal DNA in the sample to obtain a result. You may be asked by your healthcare provider for an additional blood sample.