Among the diagnostic procedures on the unborn child that have already been performed for several years is amniocentesis or amniocentesis. Through the medical examination of the amniotic fluid, conclusions can be drawn about the development and condition of the child.
What is amniocentesis?
Amniocentesis or amniocentesis can detect various diseases of the child or an impending premature birth in time. A determining procedure used in the prenatal or antenatal period is amniocentesis. This procedure is also called amniocentesis and is of central importance in the context of pregnancy prophylaxis. Amniocentesis or amniocentesis can detect various diseases of the child or an imminent premature birth in time. Thus, amniocentesis opens a possibility for many expectant parents to decide for or against having a child with a physical and/or mental disability or disease. Amniocentesis is also offered as a rapid test option.
Function, effect, and goals
Amniocentesis is a medical procedure that medical professionals make a conscious decision to perform together with the prospective parents. With amniocentesis, various abnormalities and health impairments of the child can be detected as early as within the 15th and 18th weeks of pregnancy. In this context, amniocentesis is used for the specific diagnosis of incompatibility of blood groups of the child and the mother, early detection of miscarriage or premature birth, and the presence of Down syndrome. From a certain age of pregnant women, amniocentesis should always be performed, because with the increasing age of women, the probability increases that “all is not well” with the child. During amniocentesis, pregnant women do not experience pain because the puncture area can be locally anesthetized. In most cases, this measure can be dispensed with for the benefit of the child. The doctor inserts a thin cannula through the woman’s abdominal wall into the uterus. There, the fetus lies embedded in the amniotic fluid. After a small amount of amniotic fluid is collected, this sample is sent to a cytology laboratory. There, the actual amniotic fluid examination takes place. The amniotic fluid contains various cells of the fetus from which the genetic information can be extracted and determined. Possible risks of health impairment can be concluded from this. During the amniocentesis, which requires extremely sterile work, the child is not injured. For this purpose, the attending specialists use additional imaging equipment, which allows, for example, an accompanying ultrasound scan. In addition to the quite early amniocentesis, within which the child is still a fetus, an unborn child can also be examined from the 30th week of pregnancy to determine whether there is sufficient development of the lungs. In this way, it is possible to assess what the child’s chances of survival are and whether a premature birth needs to be planned. Under these conditions, in turn, much better postnatal (afterbirth) care of the infant can be realized. Amniocentesis also provides a scientific basis for meeting the wishes of parents who do not want to raise a disabled child and wish to legally terminate the pregnancy.
Risks and dangers
In principle, it is inevitable to think through the decision to undergo amniocentesis well, because risks and side effects cannot be ruled out. Since it is an intervention in the maternal organism and the intact environment of the fetus, for example, disease-causing germs can be introduced. These can trigger a premature birth or a prenatal illness of the pregnant woman and the child. Only very rarely do injuries to the fetus occur during amniocentesis – but they do happen. Due to invasion during amniocentesis, it is possible that premature labor may be induced and miscarriage may be expected. Subsequent invasion of blood into the uterus and premature drainage of amniotic fluid also cannot be ruled out after an amniocentesis.Parents must also be adequately informed about the risk of unintentional punctures of the placenta or injuries to the uterine tissues. These complications cannot be ruled out in amniocentesis either during or after the procedure. In the vast majority of pregnant women, an amniocentesis passes without complications. A slight pulling sensation due to contraction-like movements of the muscles is normal.
