In our world today, there are so many health hazards - polluted air, radiation, dirty water, incomprehensible food from supermarkets and, of course, heredity. All these factors negatively affect not only our health, but also our children. Settling in the female body, all dangerous substances affect the ability to become pregnant, and the fetus that has conceived. How to protect yourself and the future child from pathologies? Modern medicine offers the possibility of detecting deviations from normal development already in the early stages of pregnancy, by making an analysis of the pathology of the fetus.
Pathology can be both hereditary and congenital. In our time, about 5% of newborns, of the total number of born, have congenital or hereditary pathologies, the causes of which can be genetic, chromosomal, multifactorial. We will find out which methods of timely diagnosis and prevention of pathologies will help to avoid the birth of sick children.
Genetic analysis of the fetus
An analysis of the genetics of the fetus should be carried out at the stage of pregnancy planning, but often it is performed already during pregnancy. Its purpose: to determine the risk of congenital pathologies, to identify the causes of miscarriage, to determine the possibility of the appearance of hereditary diseases. The indications, as a rule, are: the age of a woman over 35, closely related marriages, acute viral infection during pregnancy, stillbirth, miscarriages in the anamnesis, the presence of hereditary diseases. Genetic analysis of the fetus takes place in several stages. At the first stage, a survey is performed, which includes ultrasound for fetal pathology in 10-14 weeks. At the second stage, tests are performed to determine embryonic hormones (AFP and hCG).
An analysis of fetal malformations (AFP and hCG)
For the purpose of early diagnosis of pathologies, already in the first trimester, at 10-14 weeks, it is suggested to do prenatal screening - a blood test for fetal pathology, which is taken in the clinical diagnostic laboratory. This blood test for fetal malformation is now the only reliable means of detecting developmental abnormalities by taking out specific proteins that the fetus secretes. AFT (alpha-fetoprotein) is the main component of the serum of the fetus. Developing a yolk sac and a liver, he goes along with the urine into the amniotic fluid and enters the mother's blood through the chorion.
When detecting elevated levels of AFP in maternal blood, it is suggested that:
- hernia of the spinal cord or brain;
- kidney anomalies;
- invasion of the duodenum;
- defects in the infection of the anterior abdominal cavity (while the internal organs remain barefaced skin and muscles, and closed with a thin film of an elongated cord).
An analysis of the developmental fetus in the detection of hCG levels, at the beginning of the second trimester, reveals the developmental and chromosomal pathologies of the fetus. Thus, the analysis of the fetus on Down's syndrome will be positive with an elevated level of hCG in the pregnant woman's blood, and with Edwards syndrome - with a reduced level.
At the third stage of the survey, a second ultrasound is performed at week 20-24, which allows to identify small fetal malformations, the number of amniotic fluid and abnormalities of the placenta. If, after carrying out all the stages of the genetic examination, fetal pathology is assumed, the specialists prescribe invasive methods of examination: histological analysis of the fetus, cytogenetic analysis of the fetus, blood test from the umbilical cord of the fetus.
Fetal Rh factor analysis
Analysis of the Rh factor of the fetus is also an important indicator, it allows early pregnancy to determine the compatibility or incompatibility of the fetus and the mother by the Rh factor. Women with Rh factor incompatible with the fetus
Thanks to modern methods, it is possible to prevent stillbirth or the birth of a child with pathologies. When confirming the assumptions about possible pathologies in future parents, there is always a choice - to abort pregnancy or to prepare in advance for possible surgical intervention, which allows to correct vices. In any case, the final decision is made by the family.