What is the Maternal Serum Screening Test?
Maternal serum screening is a blood test available to all pregnant women. It is best to have it done between 15-18 weeks of pregnancy (counting from the first day of the last menstrual period). The purpose of this test is to identify pregnant women who may be at increased risk for having a baby with certain birth defects, such as an open neural tube defect, Down syndrome, or trisomy 18. Babies with these disorders are usually born into families in which no one else has had the same disorder.
