Is it safe for the baby?

Yes. It is a blood sample from your arm and nothing goes near the pregnancy. That is the whole reason non-invasive screening exists — amniocentesis and CVS carry a small risk of miscarriage, and this carries none.

If it comes back positive, is it certain?

No. It is a screening test and it reports a probability. For common conditions like trisomy 21 a high-probability result is usually confirmed; for the rare microdeletions it often is not, because rare conditions produce more false alarms. Confirmation by amniocentesis or CVS is always the next step before any decision.

From ten weeks of pregnancy. Before that there is usually too little placental DNA in your blood for a reliable reading, and testing early is the commonest reason a sample has to be repeated.

Will it tell me the sex?

The test can report fetal sex, and you decide in advance whether you want to be told. That preference is recorded before the sample goes to the laboratory so it is not mentioned by accident when the result is discussed.

Is it covered by RAMQ?

Québec’s public prenatal screening programme covers a different first-line test, with this kind of analysis publicly funded only in specific circumstances. The price here is what you pay privately, and you will be told plainly whether the public pathway applies to you.

Lab and screening · Reviewed by a physician

Panorama non-invasive prenatal test — five-microdeletion panel

A prenatal blood test from ten weeks that screens for Down syndrome (trisomy 21), other chromosomal conditions and five microdeletions. It reads fragments of placental DNA in your blood. It can also show your baby’s sex, if you want to know.

From$965per test

Book an evaluation See how it works

At a glance

Appointment

20minutes

Discussion, then a blood draw.

Sample

Blood

Maternal blood, from the arm.

Result

7–14days

Discussed, not just sent.

Preparation

From 10 weeks

From ten weeks of pregnancy.

Two hands resting one over the other on cream linen.

What it looks for

What this test answers.

A test is only worth doing if you know in advance what you would do with each possible answer.

How it works

Placental DNA, read from the mother’s blood.

During pregnancy, small fragments of DNA from the placenta cross into the mother’s bloodstream and circulate alongside her own. By ten weeks there is usually enough to work with. The laboratory sequences these fragments and counts how many come from each chromosome; a consistent excess or shortfall suggests an extra or missing copy in the fetus.

Two things follow from the method, and both matter. The DNA is placental rather than fetal, so in rare cases the placenta and the baby differ and the result misleads. And it is a screen: it reports a probability, not a fact. A high-probability result for a common condition like trisomy 21 is usually correct; the same result for a rare microdeletion frequently is not, simply because the condition is rare. Confirmation by amniocentesis or CVS is what turns either into a diagnosis.

A single clear drop on cream stone, holding a point of light.

01
The sample
Taken at the clinic, labelled against your file, and sent to an accredited laboratory.
02
The analysis
The laboratory runs the assay and reports the result back to the physician who ordered it.
03
The explanation
You are told the result and what it means for you, whichever way it comes back.

Your visit

One appointment, then the result.

The appointment is short. The part that matters is what happens with the result.

01
First
The review
What the test can and cannot tell you, what a positive result would mean, and what you would do with each possible answer. This conversation is the reason the test is ordered by a physician.
02
Then
The sample
A standard blood draw from your arm. Nothing goes near the pregnancy.
03
Afterwards
The result
The physician reviews it against your history and tells you what it means and what follows.

Dr. Andrew Gyopar, physician at Clinique Medix.

Who performs it

A physician orders it and reads it.

A result on its own is a number. What makes a test useful is a physician who ordered it for a reason, reads it against the rest of your history, and tells you what it means and what happens next — including when the answer is that nothing needs to happen.

Dr. Andrew Gyopar

General Surgeon, Medical Director

Pricing

The price, agreed before anything starts.

What it costs, and what the figure is counted in. The plan and the price are written down and agreed at your evaluation, before any treatment begins.

From

$965per test

Includes the five-microdeletion panel. One blood sample, one report, discussed with the physician who ordered it.

Ordered and reviewed by Dr. Andrew Gyopar. Laboratory analysis is carried out by an accredited external laboratory.

Prices are before taxes and may change without notice. Results vary from one person to another. A medical evaluation is required before any treatment.

Book an evaluation

Before and after