Scientists sequence and analyze the baby’s DNA that floats around in the mother’s bloodstream. It generally refers to a blood test that determines a baby’s risk of having certain genetic disorders.
NIPT stands for Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing. Also, my insurance would cover it, but only if I met my deductible- paying out of pocket was cheaper. It was even less expensive this time- only $299, though I had to participate in a survey to get the discount. This pregnancy (I am currently about 15 weeks) we turned down the Quad Screen and only took the NIPT. I was a little miffed that we also paid the $220 for the Quad Screen (and of course, wrote about it here), though it does cover some different things.
So, I was very surprised when, with my first pregnancy, the bill was only $350 out-of-pocket (at 32 my insurance did not cover it). The NIH priced it between $800-1200 in 2014. The website Pregnanc圜orner puts the cost at $700-1000. Looking it up on the internet seemed to confirm it. She recommended the Quad Screen because the NIPT test cost would be very expensive since I was under 35 and insurance wouldn’t cover it. One of the first things I heard about prenatal genetic screening was that it was really expensive.
