NIPT & Harmony Testing in London
We combine advanced NIPT for Down’s syndrome and chromosomal conditions with our expert ultrasound scan to check your baby’s health as early as possible. Results in 2-4 working days (PrenatalSAFE)
Our expert scan & NIPT tests in London are currently the most competitive with prices starting from £490.
NIPT at London Pregnancy Clinic
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Most accurate Down’s syndrome screening test currently available
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Advanced structural and chromosomal screening tests from 10 weeks: at least 3 chromosomal conditions (by NIPT) + at least 10 severe structural anomalies (by scan)
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Choose between a Panorama NIPT £590 (from 9 weeks) and a PrenatalSAFE £540 or Unity NIPT £490 (10 weeks)
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PrenatalSAFE NIPT available for £540 – most advanced test 2-4 working days turnaround on the market with additional screening options
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Extended NIPT option available with screening for rare diseases and microdeletions
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Scans and NIPT appointment with our fetal medicine specialists with extensive NHS and international experience.
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Same day, evening, and weekend appointments
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Optional gender reveal included in the price
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Latest 3D/4D ultrasound technology
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5* rated service on Google, Trustpilot & Doctify
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Scan report, videos and images sent straight to your smartphone
NIPT Testing Explained
Harmony NIPT was for 10 years the go-to test for many clinicians in the UK. In recent years the test lost its shine and very often resulted in failed tests and tubes causing significant delays and anxiety for patients.
As the leading private NIPT provider in London, our medical team has identified this issue with Harmony NIPT in 2021, 2 years before TDL announced Harmony NIPT would be discontinued on 13/09/2023. We set out to find the best alternative, and were very impressed by the technological advancements in some NIPT providers. We found tests which are superior to Harmony from 3 main providers, Panorama Test, PrenatalSAFE and Unity NIPT.
Read more in our Blog post on the discontinuation of Harmony NIPT in the UK.
Non-invasive prenatal screening is an advanced screening test predominantly for 3 chromosomal anomalies:
- Down’s Syndrome (Trisomy 21 – >99% detection rate)
- Edward’s Syndrome (Trisomy 18 – 97.4% detection rate)
- Patau’s Syndrome (Trisomy 13 – 93.8% detection rate)
The figures above are the published detection rates for the Harmony NIPT.
The test is highly accurate with false positive rates <0.1% for all 3 trisomies. Detection and false positive rates are calculated at a risk cut-off of 1/100. The test can also detect the fetal sex with >99% accuracy.
10 weeks is the best time for your NIPT because:
- You prefer to be reassured regarding Down’s syndrome as early as possible
- We perform your earliest fetal structural anomaly scan at 10 weeks which will exclude severe not-chromosomal defects
- In case of no-call NIPT results of the test you have plenty of time to to retake the test and have alternative screening for Down’s syndrome by Combined Test
- In case of high-chance NIPT results you can perform CVS (invasive test) to confirm or exclude the chromosomal problem at earliest possibility (usually at 11-12 weeks).
- In case of an abnormal finding in our 10 Week Scan, we will assist you in an urgent referral to Fetal Medicine Unit without wasting your time or money for inappropriate NIPT. It is well-recognised that NIPT is unsuitable test in the case of structural fetal anomaly
- It is possible to perform Panorama Test from 9 weeks, however in this case structural assessment of the baby can be limited
‘Harmony test‘ is a brand name for Roche’s NIPT. The test was developed by start-up Ariosa (US) more than 10 years ago. Currently the analysis is performed in London by TDL Genetics.
‘Panorama AI’ is a test developed by Natera (US), a pioneer in the field. New upgraded Panorama AI algorithm uses a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) with Natera’s proprietary genetic methodology to improve both accuracy and the positive predictive value for an extended range of genetic conditions.
Please find a comparison table between the tests below.
Our fetal medicine doctor will initially conduct an anatomical examination of the baby to check for structural anomalies and take some measurements for the NIPT test.
Once the clinician is satisfied with the baby’s normal structural examination, they will proceed with a consultation about NIPT to answer your questions about every aspect of the test.
Finally, our friendly phlebotomist will take the mother’s blood sample from the arm – just like any routine blood test you may have done elsewhere.
Our staff then process the maternal blood samples and will send them to the lab soon after your appointment. Now all there’s left to do is to wait for a call from us!
Ultrasound is a vital part of fetal screening. The laboratory requires a confirmation of viability and gestational age by the clinic submitting each NIPT
NIPT is a highly effective screening test for 3 chromosomal anomalies plus some other genetic conditions (panorama only), however it is unable to screen for structural anomalies such as heart or brain defects which are more common and often more serious than Down’s syndrome.
Here at London Pregnancy Clinic, we specialise in early detection of fetal anomalies, the fetal heart and the fetal brain. We can detect some severe fetal anomalies as early as at 10 weeks. Visit our scans page to find out which scan you will be having along with NIPT. Generally, we believe that our 10-week scan is the best option.
If you choose to have a panorama test at 9 weeks, we will also perform an expert structural scan for your baby (embryo), however this scan will be understandably limited due to small size and developmental immaturity of the baby.
With our expertise and technology, we can screen for structural anomalies from 10 weeks (approximate prevalence in the first trimester):
- Acrania (1:1,000)
- Alobar Holoprosencephaly (1:1,300)
- Spina Bifida (1:2,000)
- Absence of arms, hands, legs or feet (1:2,000)
- Encephalocele (1:5,000)
- Exomphalos (Omphalocele) with liver (1:3,500)
- Amniotic Band Anomaly (1:7,000)
- Body Stalk Anomaly (1:7,500)
- Sirenomelia (1:60,000)
- Conjoined Twins (1% of monochorionic twins)
In comparison, the prevalence of the chromosomal conditions screened for by NIPT:
- Down’s Syndrome (1:700)
- Edward’s Syndrome (1:1400)
- Patau’s Syndrome (1:5000)
If you take the test at 12+ weeks we are able to screen by ultrasound for >100 structural fetal anomalies, however we may lose few advantages of early NIPT.
The Doctor’s Laboratory (TDL Genetics) has now opted to work with Illumina’s NIPT technology. This is a very standard technology which is now used by many NIPT providers. Most notable, PrenatalSAFE – EuroFins’ NIPT offering has been utilising this technology for years.
£ 540
When
>10 weeks
Turnaround time
2-4 working days
Laboratory Location
UK 
No Call Results
0.5%
Fetal Fraction Cutoff
N/A
Down’s Syndrome (T21)
Yes (>99% accuracy)
Edward Syndrome (T18)
Yes (>99% accuracy)
Patau Syndrome (T13)
Yes (>99% accuracy)
Di George Syndrome (22q del)*
No
Triploidy**
No
Turner Syndrome (45X)**
No
Sex Chromosome Aneuploidy**
No
Microdeletions and single gene disorders***
No
Optional Gender Reveal
Yes (>99% accuracy)
Extended NIPT
PrenatalSAFE Complete Plus
Discontinued
When
>10 weeks
Turnaround time
3-5 working days
Laboratory Location
London, UK
No Call Results
up to 6%
Fetal Fraction Cutoff
4%
Down’s Syndrome (T21)
Yes (>99% accuracy)
Edward Syndrome (T18)
Yes (97% accuracy)
Patau Syndrome (T13)
Yes (94% accuracy)
Di George Syndrome (22q del)*
No
Triploidy**
No
Turner Syndrome (45X)**
Yes, optional
Sex Chromosome Aneuploidy**
Yes, optional
Microdeletions and single gene disorders***
No
Optional Gender Reveal
Yes (>99% accuracy)
General Notes:
The data was taken from the clinical data published by Roche and Eurofins.
* Panorama AI for Di George syndrome was validated in SMART, the largest prospective NIPT study (2022), combining artificial intelligence (AI) with Natera’s proprietary SNP-based methodology to improve both accuracy and the positive predictive value (PPV) for 22q deletions. The data from this study showed 83-99.9% sensitivity, 53% positive predictive value (PPV) and just 0.05% false positive rate.
** Triploidy, Turner syndrome (45X) and sex chromosome aneuploidy NIPT screening has limited clinical validation data. It can have higher false positive rate and also inconclusive results. The positive or inconclusive results of the tests may be NOT covered by NHS, and you may require private genetic counselling and possible private invasive test (CVS or amniocentesis) for your own expense.
*** Panorama Al with Microdeletion Panel add-on options. Please get in touch to enquire.
