What is the benefit of maternal serum marker testing?

Prenatal testing can help to evaluate the possibility of fetal abnormalities and determine the risks of carrying the baby to term. Maternal serum marker testing is a type of testing that uses blood from the mother to diagnose birth defects in the fetus. The test is particularly useful at diagnosing neural tube defects, including anencephaly and spina bifida, as well as Down Syndrome and other genetic disorders. Maternal serum marker testing would be beneficial to a patient as it would help to determine whether or not folic acid deficiency had a negative effect on early fetal development. Another test that can be used to determine the presence of neural tube defects is amniotic fluid analysis. It helps to establish whether or not the spinal cord is developing normally and identify other abnormalities in fetal development. However, as explained by Cuckle, in most cases, “amniotic fluid analysis is no longer needed for spina bifida diagnosis and referral to a tertiary center for a detailed ultrasound examination by 16 weeks gestation would suffice.” Hence, the test should only be carried out if the results of maternal serum screening are inconclusive; in other cases, a detailed ultrasound should be prescribed.