Should every mother have the test that could eliminate Down's syndrome? As first pregnant British woman use new risk-free from of screening fears grow is could spark a spate of abortions New non-invasive test for Down's eliminates risk for miscarriage Instead of drawing fluid from around the baby it is a simple blood test Disability campaigners fear it will see more Down's foetuses aborted By Alison Smith-squire Relief: The new test told Carolyn and Neil Blockley their twins are healthy For expectant parents, whether or not to test their unborn child for Down's syndrome can be an agonising decision. Routine scans at ten and 13 weeks can flag up a heightened risk of the condition, which causes lifelong disability and a host of complex health problems. But a definitive diagnosis can be given only after amniocentesis, an invasive procedure that draws amniotic fluid from around the baby with a needle and syringe - and brings with it a risk of miscarriage. Now, Carolyn and Neil Blockley, who are expecting twins, have become one of the first couples in the UK to benefit from a controversial blood test that can accurately identify Down's and eliminate the danger of the traditional method. More than 98 per cent accurate for twins and 99 per cent accurate for a single baby, the new non-invasive Ariosa Harmony test - one of a number of similar tests - requires no more than a blood sample drawn from the pregnant woman's arm. However, disability campaigners believe that if such a test were to become widely available, it would increase terminations of Down's babies - nine in ten women given the news choose to have an abortion. At present, mothers to be are given a combined test for the syndrome at the end of the first trimester. It comprises an ultrasound known as a Nuchal Translucency (NT) scan, which measures the fluid behind the baby's neck, a larger amount of which can indicate Down's, and a blood test, which looks for hormones and proteins related to the syndrome. The two results are combined to give a risk rating. If the risk is high, then women are offered amniocentesis. Because these hormones and proteins are already higher in a multiple pregnancy, women expecting twins have only the NT scan - which is 80 per cent accurate. The combined test is 90 per cent accurate at best. It was after the NT scan that doctors first alerted the Blockleys to potential problems. Carolyn, 29, an accountant, from Pentre, Mid Glamorgan, explains: "They said there was more fluid than was usual around one baby's neck. Light of our lives: Hayley Goleniowska, 43, whose daughter Natty, right, was born with Down's Syndrome 'We were shocked when the doctor told us he thought it could be Down's syndrome. It was very upsetting as these are our first babies and I hadn't had any problems before. With amniocentesis, performed from 15 weeks, there is a one in 100 chance of miscarriage - and with twins this risk is doubled. Carolyn says: "Had I not had the new test, I would have faced a terrible dilemma about whether or not to have an amniocentesis. Although we would have wanted to know our babies were healthy, the thought we could risk losing them was devastating. Thankfully for Carolyn, her consultant suggested having the Ariosa test, which has been available privately since May. She chose the screening at 12 weeks, and ten days later the results showed her babies were healthy. Now 17 weeks pregnant, she says: "It was a huge relief to be given the all-clear. I'm looking forward to enjoying the rest of my pregnancy without worry. The couple's doctor, Dr Bryan Beattie, a consultant in foetal medicine at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, wants the NHS to provide the test as a routine screening. "Every year hundreds of healthy babies are miscarried during amniocentesis," says Dr Beattie. The NHS shouldn't be delaying this test. Instead, it should be making it standard practice. New test: The Ariosa Harmony test requires no more than a blood sample drawn from a pregnant woman¿s arm Far fewer mums to be will then need to have an amniocentesis and it will therefore save precious lives. Of the 750,000 women in Britain who become pregnant each year, 30,000 are offered amniocentesis to test a potential problem. But 41 per cent of those women decide not to have the test - or any other screenings available on the NHS. The new procedure identifies what is known as cell-free DNA (cfDNA), tiny fragments of foetal genetic material circulating in the mother's blood. As well as Down's syndrome, this DNA can be tested for other chromosomal conditions such as Edwards and Patau syndromes, both of which cause severe brain abnormalities and heart defects and mean babies rarely live beyond a year. Down's syndrome is one of the most common genetic causes of learning disability, and about 750 babies are born with the condition each year in the UK. It is caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21 in a baby's cells, the reasons for which are still unknown. The age at which a woman becomes pregnant is the only clear factor identified as increasing the likelihood of having a baby with Down's. A woman of 25 has a risk of one in 1,250. This risk increases to one in 400 for women of 35, and one in 100 for women of 40. By the time a woman is 45, there is a one in 30 chance. Yet critics argue the new test - being trialled for the NHS at King's College Hospital, London and Medway Maritime Hospital, Kent - will mean women are railroaded into having an abortion. Hayley Goleniowska, 43, from Padstow, Cornwall, whose second daughter Natty, six, was born with Down's, runs website Down's Side Up to help educate people about the condition. If a test is routinely offered - rather than given as a choice - it is ultimately being recommended. When the test is positive, most women are then offered an immediate termination - very few are asked if they would like to meet a family with a child with Down's or even told another option truly is to keep their baby. Hayley, whose elder daughter Mia is nine, adds: "My husband Bob and I had no idea we were having a baby with Down's and, devastatingly, doctors said Natty might not walk or even talk. But she's at mainstream school and is the light of our lives.