Axia Women’s Health Pioneers with Launch of Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing

VOORHEES, NJ – August 13, 2019 – Axia Women’s Health, the nation’s largest independent women’s healthcare group announces the launch of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT), the first of its kind in a U.S. OB/GYN physician-owned laboratory.

The test, branded as Precision Prenatal NIPT, uses a blood sample from a pregnant mother to analyze DNA from the placenta and fetus in order to screen for chromosome conditions that may affect the baby’s future health. The test provides screening as early as 10 weeks into pregnancy so that Axia Women’s Health patients and providers may together make more educated decisions about future testing and baby’s care.

“Precision Prenatal NIPT is powerful in that it can distinguish the difference between the mother’s and baby’s DNA, resulting in fewer false positives, as well as fewer false negatives during prenatal genetic screening,” explains Stephen Krell, MD, executive chairman and CEO of Axia’s clinical practices. “The level of accuracy in testing enables pregnant patients to undergo fewer unnecessary and costly follow-up tests. In some cases, diagnostic tests such as amniocentesis, which can pose risk to the fetus, can be avoided due to a lower rate of false positives in our DNA screening.”

Axia’s Precision Prenatal NIPT screens for a variety of chromosomal conditions such as Down syndrome, Edwards syndrome, Patau syndrome, Triploidy, Monosomy X, and sex-chromosome aneuploidies. Additionally, while some couples choose to wait to learn the sex of their baby until birth, the Precision Prenatal NIPT also offers the highest reported gender accuracy of any NIPT test at 10 weeks of pregnancy.

Pregnant women who see an Axia Women’s Health provider for prenatal care can access the new Precision Prenatal NIPT, with costs based upon specific insurance plan coverage. Axia Women’s Health is pleased to bring this option to improve prenatal care to women served throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey.