One of the scariest parts of pregnancy is thinking about what could go wrong. Couples hear a litany of possible genetic disorders during the early weeks of pregnancy: autism, Down's syndrome, cystic fibrosis and more.
Thanks to a free tool developed by the March of Dimes, Massachusetts General Hospital, Genetic Alliance and the National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics, healthcare providers can provide prospective parents with information about their genetic risk profile. Having access to this profile can help them to make decisions either before or in the early stages of pregnancy.
"Our goal with this new, electronic family history tool is to help prenatal care providers determine a women's risk for problems during pregnancy so together they can take steps to improve the chance of having full-term pregnancies and healthy babies," explained Joan Scott, who serves as executive director of the National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics.
The partners piloted the tool, called the Pregnancy and Health Profile, with over 600 patients and 75 obstetricians. Nurses, nurse midwives and family practitioners also participated in the pilot.
Participating medical facilities included the Maine-Dartmouth Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program, the Indianapolis-based Community Health Network, the Mountain Area Health Education Center in Ashville, N.C., and the Montefiore Medical Center Comprehensive Family Care Center in Bronx, N.Y.
Both Mother and Father fill out a questionnaire with their physician using a computer tablet. Then, the software creates a risk profile that the doctor can discuss with the patient. Instead going through a nerve-wracking wait for blood test results, patients can start with a screening tool that provides immediate feedback.
Other potential benefits include eliminating some of the false positives that come from traditional blood tests. Additionally, mothers could avoid some riskier tests like amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling.
Edited by
Stefania Viscusi
