Who Should Have Amniocentesis?
Every pregnancy has a small risk, about 3%, for the kinds of birth defects that do not have a known cause. Some examples are cleft lip, hernia, nonspecific mental retardation, and most heart defects. There are no prenatal tests yet for these kinds of problems. Some pregnancies have an additional risk for chromosome abnormalities, inherited genetic diseases, neural tube defects, or other conditions for which tests are available. People with these risks should consider amniocentesis. If a woman thinks she should have amniocentesis but isn’t sure, she should talk to her doctor and maybe also to a specialist in genetics, such as a genetic counselor.
