How is a baby diagnosed with cystic fibrosis prior to birth?
If both the mother and father are carriers of cystic fibrosis, prenatal testing can determine if the baby is affected. There are two ways to do this: Chorionic villus sample is performed between 10 to 12 weeks. Guided by ultrasound, a doctor inserts a very thin needle through the mother’s abdomen to retrieve a tiny amount of tissue from the placenta. (Sometimes the small amount of tissue is obtained with a very thin tube inserted through the mother’s vagina.) The procedure carries a risk of about 1 percent (1 in 100) of miscarriage. Amniocentesis is typically performed between 15 to 22 weeks. Guided by ultrasound, a doctor inserts a very thin needle into the uterus to retrieve one or two tablespoons of amniotic fluid. The needle does not touch the fetus. There is a 0.5 percent (1 in 200) risk of miscarriage with this procedure. Prenatal ultrasound cannot reveal if your baby has cystic fibrosis. But sometimes a doctor will see an “echogenic bowel” on the ultrasound. This means the baby’
