Doctors push for better education about some prenatal genetic screening
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Pre-test counselling needs to improve for expectant parents, researchers say.
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Prenatal testing for some rare genetic conditions raises ethical issues and anxiety for expectant parents, some medical experts say.
Key points:
False positives in non-invasive prenatal testing for rare conditions can lead to anxiety and invasive testing for expectant parents
Pre-test counselling needs to improve, highlighting the importance of informed consent for tests
A clinical geneticist says the tests can provide women with choice
NIPT was found to have an excellent accuracy rate of 99.7 per cent for Down syndrome.
Prenatal testing for some rare genetic conditions raises ethical issues and unnecessary anxiety for expectant parents, some medical experts say, with some women being offered additional testing known as "extended panels" by their GPs for other rare conditions.