The World Health Organization (WHO) has termed miscarriage to be the most commons reason behind losing a child during pregnancy. As per March of Dimes, which is an organisation that works on maternal and child health, out of 100 pregnancies around 10-15 end in miscarriage.
Sadly, every year around 2 million babies are stillborn, but shockingly WHO states that many of these deaths are preventable. In an interview with the Hindustan Times, Dr. Jyothi Patil, Obstetrician/Gynaecologist at Bangalore’s Milann – Fertility & Birthing Hospital has revealed that preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) has shown amazing results in minimising the number of miscarriages.
For those who don’t know, PGT is an early form of prenatal genetic diagnosis that identifies the abnormal embryos and results in permitting the transfer of genetically normal embryos. Patil claimed that any “kind of chromosome abnormality” is the “most common reason” behind any miscarriage. Hence, genetic testing “detects changes in genes, chromosomes, or proteins.”
Dr Patil added that around half of all the miscarriages taking place in the first trimester are the results of “chromosomal abnormalities in the foetus.” She also revealed that IVF is also an option for such couples. “In vitro fertilisation and embryo genetic testing are available for the couples who are suspected of losing children owing to recurring genetic disorders. PGT has been shown to minimise the number of miscarriages,” Dr Patil was quoted as saying.
While revealing that genetic problems can cause several miscarriages, Dr. Saima Naz Khan, Senior Manager-Scientific Affairs at Genes2Me Pvt Ltd, told Hindustan Times that genetic testing can prove very helpful for couples who have faced several pregnancy losses and wish to know what causes those miscarriages. She suggested the couples “undergo Microarray chromosomal testing”, which she claimed to be an advanced technology that analyses “thousands of DNA samples simultaneously.” Talking about the process, she detailed that it doesn’t require cells from the foetus as the “foetal samples are directly extracted from the DNA”. She added that this process has the caliber of highly detecting chromosomal abnormalities.
