Your enhanced first trimester screening (eFTS) or maternal serum screening (MSS) screen result was reported as a positive screen result.

A positive screen result:

• means that there is a higher chance for your baby to have one of the conditions screened for. This is based on the fact that your estimated chance is above the accepted screening cut-off.
• does not mean that your baby definitely has trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) or trisomy 18. In fact, most of the time that there is a positive screen for one of these conditions, the baby does not turn out to have the condition. For example, if the estimated chance on your report is 1 in 100 you can think of it as a 1% chance that the baby has trisomy 21 (and 99% chance that the baby does not have trisomy 21)

Screening cut-offs

• eFTS: A screen positive result for trisomy 21 means that the chance that your pregnancy has trisomy 21 is higher than 1 in 350. 
• MSS: A screen positive result for trisomy 21 means that the chance that your pregnancy has trisomy 21 is higher than 1 in 200. Please note that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the threshold has been temporarily moved to 1 in 350.

False positive results

Because screening tests are not 100% accurate, some individuals will get a positive screen result and go on to have normal invasive diagnostic test results or deliver a baby without the condition. Only invasive diagnostic testing can tell for sure if your baby has trisomy 21 or trisomy 18.

Refer to our resources for more information about screening results.

Next steps

If you have a positive screen result, you should be offered further testing options by your pregnancy care provider, and/or a referral for genetic counselling. Only invasive diagnostic testing (chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis) can tell you for sure if your baby has trisomy 21 or trisomy 18.

Refer to the proposed prenatal screening pathway for more information.