Professor Eva Pajkrt:

In the Netherlands, studies have shown that the number of children born with Down's syndrome has been stable. It has not decreased at all with the introduction of screening. Many people were scared that the number of Down's syndrome babies was going to fall but that has not been the case. One reason is that although there has been an increase in uptake in prenatal screening, mothers have become older and older women may make different choices than younger women. We do not know. Younger women do not screen because they think that they are young and it will not happen to them. We have about 250 born with Down's syndrome annually, and the rate is a flat line.