Births with Down's syndrome halved

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The number of babies diagnosed with the syndrome before birth was also increased by 30%, the study in the British Medical Journal found.

British attempts to instigate a similar programme have been hampered by disagreements over screening techniques.

Danish women were offered a risk assessment for Down's in their first trimester of pregnancy based on their age as well as simple medical tests.

Those women at high risk were given more invasive tests such as sampling of the fluid in the womb.

Before the new system the decision on whether to test a pregnant woman for Down's was based only on their age and diagnostic tests were offered mainly to women older than 35.

Professor Ann Tabor and Danish researchers analysed data from the 19 Danish departments of gynaecology and obstetrics and the national cytogenetic registry for an average of 65,000 births each year between 2000 and 2007.

They found that in 2006 around 84% of pregnant women had a risk assessment for Down's syndrome.

They reported that the number of babies born with Down's syndrome fell from 55-65 per year during 2000-4, to 31 in 2005 and 32 in 2006.

The researchers also found that due to the improved screening there was a fall by 50 per cent in the number of invasive tests carried out.