An increasing number of pregnant women are being told their babies have the condition because of a growing number of women putting off having children until their 30s and 40s and improvements in screening, doctors say.
And around nine in ten women who are told they are going to have a baby with the problem opt for a termination.
The research shows that around 1,100 babies in England and Wales are aborted every year because of Down’s syndrome, an increase from 300 in 1989/90.
The findings have led Down’s Syndrome support organisations to call for greater counselling to help parents make the right decision for them.
Prof Joan Morris, professor of medical statistics who carried out the research at Queen Mary, University of London, said: “We are getting more pregnancies with Down’s syndrome because women are having their babies older and because we are screening more accurately and screening more women, there are more terminations.
“It is important that women have the full information. There is a group of women out there who don’t want screening because they would not terminate anyway and that is a good thing if that is what they want.”
Read more at The Telegraph.
Tags: Abortion, Down's Syndrome
