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A Unique Child - A doctor's diary ... Down's syndrome.

"I'm a teacher and have a child with Down's syndrome in my class. I really have no idea what that means or what the implications are."

Around 750 children are born with Down's syndrome in the UK each year. Women of high maternal age and mothers with previous Down's babies are particularly at risk. Some data suggests that three children per day are aborted because of an ante-natal diagnosis of the condition.

Ante-natally, the probability of having a Down's baby is determined by the combination of specialised imaging carried out at around 12 weeks of pregnancy, called the nuchal scan, and a series of blood tests.

The nuchal scan measures the thickness of skins folds at the back of the neck. A thick nuchal fold is associated with a higher risk of Down's syndrome.

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