If you are pregnant, your doctor may advise fetal assessment testing for a variety of reasons. Knowing more about the baby before it is born can help parents make important decisions or avoid problems. One form of fetal assessment testing is amniocentesis, which is recommended routinely for women who will deliver their babies after age thirty-five or who have family histories of certain birth defects.
Amniocentesis is usually a safe and effective procedure.
There is less than one percent chance of miscarriage or early rupture of the fetal sac after amniocentesis is performed. Amniotic fluid may leak in up to two percent of women, but this usually stops after a short period of bed rest. Infection and other serious complications are rare. The procedure is usually conducted between the sixteenth and eighteenth weeks of pregnancy, although it is sometimes done later. Ultrasound scanning, a painless imaging technique, is used with amniocentesis to allow the doctor to see the baby and estimate its age and health, its position in the uterus and the position of the placenta.