Nurses are responsible for obtaining a comprehensive obstetric and menstrual history and educating pregnant persons on the routine, screening, and diagnostic tests available and the reasons they are performed and… It is important for nurses to educate the pregnant person on the screenings recommended and inform them that the screenings predict the risk of the fetus having a genetic, structural, or neural tube defect.

Additional diagnostic testing is needed if the screenings come back abnormal Many prenatal tests are recommended during the first trimester of pregnancy.

screening — test used to identify whether a fetus is more or less likely to have certain birth defects, many which are genetic disorders. biophysical profile (BPP) — scoring system to evaluate fetal well-being in the following areas: fetal heart rate, fetal breathing movements, fetal body movements, fetal muscle tone, and amount of amniotic…. cell-free DNA (cfDNA) screening — blood test that can be done as early as 10 weeks’ gestation and up until delivery that screens for certain conditions caused by an abnormal number of chromosomes. chorionic villus sampling (CVS) — prenatal diagnostic test conducted between the 10th and 13th week of pregnancy to diagnose fetal chromosomal, metabolic, or DNA abnormalities.