A study conducted in ten hospitals found that NIPT (Non-Invasive Prenatal Screening Test), was safer, more accurate and more effective in detecting chromosomal abnormalities in unborn babies, compared to conventional marker tests and ultrasound studies.

The study was initiated by the famous research and diagnostics firm named MedGenome, which authenticates the accuracy of NIPT testing. Varied genetic disorders were observed in a number of people. The latest survey in India suggested that around one in 166 births were found to have chromosomal abnormalities.  Among all the genetic disorder diseases, Down syndrome was found to be more prevalent in India.  Approximately 32,500 babies were born with Down syndrome every year, the highest in the world.
For this reason, early screening plays a significant role, providing genetic information about the baby well in advance and allowing the parents to seek further aid, if necessary. 

Dr. I.C. Verma, the study investigator cum director of the Institute of Medical Genetics and Genomics at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi said, “This is India’s first-ever systematic study on the non-invasive prenatal screening test (NIPT). While the efficacy of NIPT has been well proven in the more developed markets, the results of this unique study in India clearly indicate that even for Indian women, NIPT is highly accurate when compared to conventional screening tests. It is also remarkable to note that pregnancies considered intermediate to high risk through conventional screening methods were found to be low risk with NIPT. This means that a large number (96.2%) of women could potentially avoid invasive procedures such as amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling which cause emotional anxiety and come with a risk of miscarriage (1 in 1000 for amniocentesis and 1 in 200 for chorionic villus sampling).”