Patient Education
NTD’s Mission is to Educate and Empower Patients and Their Families
Importance of Screening
The growing field of prenatal screening gives patients the opportunity to learn valuable information about themselves and their baby during the time of pregnancy or family planning. Today we are able to test for a wide range of disorders including chromosomal and genetic abnormalities, neural tube defects, and preeclampsia. Many of these disorders happen randomly, without a known family history. This is why the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends prenatal screening be offered to all pregnant women, regardless of age.
Couples who wish to start a family have the option to consider multiple non-invasive screening approaches. Prenatal screening allows us to predict the possibility of having a child with certain intellectual disabilities or medical concerns. It can be helpful to know beforehand if a baby will be born with a genetic disorder because this knowledge gives parents time to learn about the disorder, make informed decisions, and plan for any medical care that the child may need.
Learn more about NTD’s prenatal screening options that are available to you.

Let’s Make Sense of All This…
Genetic Questions:
Prenatal Testing:
What is screening?
Additional Resources
Select Society Recommendations:
Screening for Fetal Aneuploidy
Carrier Screening for Genetic Conditions
Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnosis Guidelines
Select Publications
First-trimester screening for trisomies 21 and 18
The development of an accurate first trimester screening test for early onset preeclampsia
ASPRE trial: performance of screening for preterm pre-eclampsia