Reaction to Down’s Fetus Horrifies Mother

Your article about the anxieties of prenatal testing appeared just four days after I received the results of my own amniocentesis. Although apprehensive about receiving negative results, I did not experience the extreme level of anxiety related by the couple in the article.

Perhaps my somewhat younger age, 36, spared me since the risk of Down’s syndrome is substantially higher at age 40 than at 36. However, I suffered from fears of another nature, continuing even now after having received the report that I am carrying a genetically normal baby girl.

My fear, enhanced with every twinge or pinch, is that the procedure might cause a miscarriage or other harm to the fetus. Neither my physician nor any of the pregnancy books I read prepared me for the painful cramps I experienced during the procedure and for eight hours thereafter, for the fatigue, muscle aches and lethargy I felt the next day or for the sporadic twinges of pain I felt for two weeks after. Every one made me wonder whether it was the precursor to a miscarriage.

Now, three weeks after the procedure was performed, my fears are beginning to subside as I feel the stronger and more frequent fetal movements. But I probably will always wonder whether the trauma to my uterus caused by the insertion of the amnio needle will have some subtle, lasting effect upon my unborn child.

BEVERLY J. ORTH

Culver City