New blood test may detect fetal abnormalities at week 10

(ISRAEL21c) - When a pregnant woman is worried about possible genetic defects in the child she is carrying, amniocentesis is the gold standard test.

But amniocentesis is both invasive - a needle is inserted into the womb to extract amniotic fluid - and dangerous, resulting in miscarriage in as many as one out of every 200 tests performed.

Furthermore, amniocentesis can only be done after week 15 of the pregnancy, yet many U.S. states and countries around the world ban abortion by that time, limiting a mother's options if an abnormality is detected.

Another test - an NIPT or "noninvasive prenat...