Down's syndrome, Edwards' syndrome and Patau's Syndrome

All pregnant women who attend for antenatal care before they are 20 weeks pregnant are offered a screening test for Down's syndrome, Edwards' syndrome and Patau's syndrome. This is to assess their chances of having a baby with these conditions.

• Down's syndrome is also called trisomy 21 or T21
• Edwards' syndrome is also called trisomy 18 or T18
• Patau's syndrome is also called trisomy 13 or T13

If the screening test shows that the woman has a higher chance of having a baby with any of these syndromes, she will have three options:

• no further testing
• a further screening test call Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT)
• a diagnostic test to find out for certain if the baby has the condition

Women can find out more about these conditions and details about their screening options on the NHS Inform website.