After amniocentesis, the fluid that was extracted from your womb is sent to a laboratory for analysis.
It is possible to see if your baby has inherited or developed certain conditions.
Conditions such as Downs syndrome and Edwards syndrome can be identified within just a few days using a process called fluorescence in-situ hybridisation (FISH).
It may take up to four weeks to identify other chromosomal conditions because cells need to be grown from the sample for chromosome analysis.
The results of amniocentesis are usually presented as a likelihood of the condition occurring. For example, a risk of 1 in 100 means that there is a 1% chance that the baby will have the condition.
June 2011 | 
Amniocentesis Introduction
