Liverpool hospital introduces NIPT (reflex DNA) tests

Liverpool Women’s Hospital is the first Trust outside of London to offer Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) (reflex DNA) through the NHS maternity pathway of care.

NIPT with the combined screen allows for more accurate screening for Down’s Syndrome, Edward’s Syndrome and Patau’s Syndrome, than ever before.

If a woman chooses and is eligible for first trimester screening, she will now have the combined screening as normal, which includes an NT scan and blood sample, plus further bloods for the NIPT test.

Dr Devender Roberts, clinical director at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, said: “NIPT is a fantastic technological development which we’re delighted to now be able to offer to pregnant women across the North West, as part of the NHS Combined screen for Downs, Edwards and Patous syndromes for women between 11 and 14 weeks of pregnancy.

“This is a simple test that measures fetal DNA from a pregnant woman’s blood to look for common chromosome abnormalities.

“It has been found to have a detection rate of greater than 99 per cent for Down’s Syndrome, in comparison to the tests previously available, which have a detection rate of only 86 per cent.

“It also has a much lower false positive rate than other tests which means if the result is negative it is highly unlikely that the baby has one of the chromosome abnormalities.”