New tech. at women's hospital to identify foetal abnormalities

The Women’s Hospital is set to introduce a new technology to identify abnormalities in embryos, while another set of tests to know basic information about the foetus has been started at the hospital’s Foeto-Maternal Unit (FMU), according to an expert. The new diagnostic technique currently available at the Women’s Hospital (WH) relies on samples of mother’s blood at two months into pregnancy to know the type of the foetus, blood group and foetus’ genetic nature, Qatari English daily (The Peninsula) reported Saturday. However, one of latest techniques to diagnose birth defects will be made available at the Foeto-Maternal Unit, soon. "The process involves taking samples from the amniotic fluid (water surrounding the foetus) and foetal blood. It will help gather information on any abnormalities of the foetus," Head of the FMU at the Women's Hospital Dr. Badruddin Ahmed said. "However, this does not mean that we can do away with the routine ultra sounds. The scanning is necessary for the doctors to know about the size of the foetus, monitor the developmental stages, and the status of the foetus within the womb," he said. Last year, WH had seen more than 16,000 births and FMU’s specialized services see more than 5000 cases annually.