Genetic Testing In Pregnancy, What Every Pregnant Woman Should Get This Test Done

Pregnant women should get genetic testing done to timely diagnose any signs of genetic diseases in the baby.

Chanchal Sengar
Written by: Chanchal SengarUpdated at: May 14, 2020 17:21 IST
Genetic Testing In Pregnancy, What Every Pregnant Woman Should Get This Test Done

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If you are pregnant then you must get a genetic test done. This test is not common and therefore many parents do not consider this to be done but it is better if you get it done. The reason being the health of your baby. Genetic testing is done to identify any genetic disorder in the baby before birth. There are certain diseases that the baby gets in genes. For example, if either of the parents is diabetic, the chances of the baby getting diabetes increase. There are many more such health diseases that can pass to your child in the womb. Genetic testing helps in identifying the possibility and take necessary steps beforehand. Waiting for the kid to show symptoms and then take him/her for the treatment is not a wise option. Therefore, genetic testing during pregnancy is better to be done.

What is genetic testing and how it is done?

A genetic test is done on pregnant women for the unborn baby. This is a test that can be used to determine whether a child has received any genetic disease from the mother or father. A woman's blood sample (blood sample) is taken for this test. In pregnancy, this test must be done by every woman so that before the birth of the child she can know what genetic diseases her child may have. There are several genetic diseases that a daughter may inherit from her mother.

Understand the importance of genetic testing

A genetic test is necessary in cases where one of the partners has a genetic (hereditary) disease, a history of genetic diseases in the family, something bad has happened to the mother during pregnancy, or found some congenital anomalies in the woman's earlier children. Besides, genetic tests are also necessary for women who conceive late (usually after 30–35 years).

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According to the World Health Organization, in 2017, a total of more than 6 million children died in the world, who were less than 15 years of age, including 50.4 lakh children who were less than 5 years of age. According to these figures, one child under 15 years of age dies every 5 seconds in the world. More than half of these deaths are caused by genetic diseases.

Causes of genetic diseases

When a child is born, two types of genes are found in it, one gene comes from mother and one gene comes from father. These genes determine the look, color and behavior of the child. Many times the diseases present in the body of the parents with these genes also enter the body of the infant. These are called genetic disorders or genetic disorders. There are many genetic traits and diseases such as Lactose Intolerance In Kids, which are carried on from generation to generation. According to researches, the diseases of the father or the diseases in his family have a greater effect on the infant. Even before being born due to these diseases, the infant has to struggle a lot for life.

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Some genetic diseases are dangerous

There are some genetic diseases that are dangerous, such as thalassemia, sickle cell, heart attack, etc. Apart from this, there are disorders like diabetes, obesity, blood diseases, heart diseases, eye diseases, epilepsy, cancer, etc., that can be entered into the infant by parents' genes before birth. Therefore, to avoid these diseases, it is necessary to do a genetic test.

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