Older pregnant women refuse defect testing

LONDON, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- A British study published Tuesday showed an increase in Down Syndrome births because many older women refuse birth defects testing during pregnancy.

Researchers from Queen Mary, the University of London found Down syndrome pregnancies increased sharply since 1989, largely because of a rise in older women attempting to have children, The Times of London reported.

The scientists analyzed data dating back to 1989 from the National Down Syndrome Cytogenetic Register for England. The study was published online by the British Medical Journal, the newspaper said.

The study showed that pre- and postnatal diagnoses increased by 71 percent, from 1,075 in 1989 to 1,843 in 2009, but the number of babies born with Down has remained constant during the same period. Down baby births fell only by approximately 1 per cent over the same period, from 752 to 743,

Additionally, the study's scientists discovered that Down cases diagnosed prenatally in women under 37 rose from 3 per cent to 43 per cent during that time. Among older women, however, the number remained at consistent 70 per cent during the same period.

Older women have a much greater chance of having a Down baby, and more research is needed to discover why approximately 30 percent of women over 40 years old choose not to be tested, said Joan Morris, Professor of Medical Statistics at Queen Mary, University of London, adding that a woman over 40 is 16 times more likely than a 25-year-old woman to have a Down pregnancy

"It is important to ascertain whether the decision is an informed one and, if not, to address the lack of information, Morris said.