OBJECTIVE To assess obstetricians' and midwives' knowledge of routine prenatal screening tests for fetal abnormality and factors associated with such knowledge. DESIGN Questionnaire assessment of antenatal clinic staff. SETTING Six hospitals within the United Kingdom (four district general hospitals in London, one district general hospital in Wales, and one teaching hospital in Wales), offe...

BACKGROUND Syphilis is a major public health problem in many regions of China, with increases in congenital syphilis (CS) cases causing concern. The Chinese Ministry of Health recently announced a comprehensive 10-y national syphilis control plan focusing on averting CS. The decision analytic model presented here quantifies the impact of the planned strategies to determine whether they are like...

In a pilot neonatal screening programme for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) conducted in the Canadian province of Manitoba, a cohort of eight affected males was identified between 1 January 1986 and 31 December 1989. Demographic information, knowledge of DMD, reproductive outcome, and attitudes to prenatal diagnosis and neonatal screening for DMD were obtained through questionnaires distribut...

OBJECTIVE The prenatal screening programme for Down syndrome (DS) in the South African public health sector remains primarily based on advanced maternal age (AMA). We assessed the changes over time and effectiveness of this screening programme within a Cape Town health district. METHODS Retrospective analysis of the Groote Schuur Hospital Cytogenetic Laboratory and Pregnancy Counselling Clini...

Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for aneuploidy using cell-free DNA in maternal plasma is revolutionizing prenatal screening and diagnosis. We review NIPT in the context of established screening and invasive technologies, the range of cytogenetic abnormalities detectable, cost, counseling and ethical issues. Current NIPT approaches involve whole-genome sequencing, targeted sequencing and as...

BACKGROUND Countries of the Americas have been working towards rubella elimination since 2003 and endemic rubella virus transmission appears to have been interrupted since 2009. To contribute towards monitoring of rubella elimination, we assessed rubella seroprevalence among prenatal screening tests performed in Ontario. METHODS Specimens received for prenatal rubella serologic testing at the...