Recommendations
The National Screening Unit (NSU) recommends all pregnant women are offered information about screening for Down syndrome and other conditions, preferably in the first trimester of pregnancy.
The NSU acknowledges that the choice to have or not have screening is a personal one and unique to each woman and her family/whānau. Each woman must be supported in the decisions she makes throughout the screening pathway.
New tests are becoming available for non-invasive prenatal screening (previously referred to as non-invasive prenatal testing or NIPT). These tests are not publicly funded. The NSU statement on these tests is available as a download on this page.
Further information on the use of non-invasive prenatal screening is available from the New Zealand maternal fetal medicine network webpage.
See the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists website for more information.
Page last updated: 12 March 2018