Any woman who has ever been pregnant knows just how uncomfortable a really full bladder can be. Apart from all the medical benefits of ultrasound, prospective parents also have the thrill of actually seeing their baby months before he or she arrives. Those grainy pictures do much to make up for all the aches and pains of the first few months of pregnancy. Amniocentesis Return to top Amniocentesis is the granddaddy of modern prenatal testing. This procedure has been available to expectant mothers for some 30 years and has now become routine for the increasing number of pregnant women over 35, when the chance of problems with the baby goes up.
Physicians also suggest amniocentesis if the mother has a history of miscarriage.
Another potential reason is the presence of too much alpha-fetoprotein in the mother's blood. This substance is produced by the baby, and an excessive amount could indicate a potentially serious problem with the pregnancy. During the pregnancy, the baby floats in a liquid called amniotic fluid. As the baby matures, cells from his or her body are discarded into the fluid. Amniocentesis enables physicians to retrieve these cells and study the genetic information they contain.