Editing Pregnancy (section)

=== MSAFP Test ===

The Maternal Serum Alpha-Foetoprotein test tells you if there are certain kinds of birth defects. The protein is made by the baby's liver (and perhaps other organs) so presumably having too much or too little points to problems there. We made a mistake on our checklist and did not do this test in time. It has to be done between 16 and 20 weeks, with 21 weeks reducing its diagnostic efficacy.

This would let you know early if there's a problem and begin preparing for it (or presumably terminating). It appears that California has a data-collection regime around this and Non-Invasive Prenatal Screening (NIPS). In any case, the MSAFP test results are sent to the state and the state sends them to your ob/gyn. So what this means is that you have to allow for 10 days of delay to get the results. The results of this help search for problems on the anatomy ultrasound that follows.