What is NIPT, and Who is it For?

If you're pregnant, you'll come across a lot of acronyms — and NIPT is one you may be offered regardless of your age or risk category. Here's what it actually is, what it can tell you, and what it can't.

What NIPT actually is

NIPT stands for Non-Invasive Prenatal Test. It's a blood test — nothing more invasive than that — taken from the mother, which analyses small fragments of the baby's DNA that circulate naturally in her bloodstream. This is often called cell-free fetal DNA, and it's shed by the placenta throughout pregnancy.

Because it only requires a blood sample, NIPT carries none of the small miscarriage risk associated with more invasive diagnostic tests like amniocentesis or CVS (chorionic villus sampling).

What it screens for

NIPT assesses the chance of the following chromosome conditions:

• Trisomy 21 (Down's Syndrome)
• Trisomy 18 (Edwards' Syndrome)
• Trisomy 13 (Patau Syndrome)

It can also look at the sex chromosomes, which means it can identify the sex of the baby if you'd like to know, and screen for sex chromosome conditions including Turner Syndrome (XO), Triple X Syndrome (XXX) and Klinefelter's Syndrome (XXY).

What it can't tell you

This is the part that's easiest to misunderstand: NIPT is a screening test, not a diagnosis. It tells you whether there's an increased or decreased chance of a condition being present — not a definite yes or no. If a result comes back higher-chance, a diagnostic test (such as CVS or amniocentesis) is the next step to confirm it. A low-chance result is reassuring, but like any screening test, it doesn't guarantee a condition isn't present.

When it's done

NIPT is typically carried out from 10 weeks of pregnancy onwards, once a dating scan has confirmed how far along you are. It's suitable for both singleton and twin pregnancies, though accuracy in non-identical twin pregnancies can be slightly more complex, since there are two placentas each releasing their own DNA.

NIPT at Braidburn Health

At Braidburn Health, NIPT is available to any pregnant woman, of any age or risk category — it isn't restricted to higher-risk pregnancies. You'll need to be over 10 weeks pregnant, confirmed by a dating scan, and results typically take 5–7 working days to come back.