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Day 80 of 280 · 11 weeks + 3 days

The 11-to-14 window

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 9 sources · Plain-text version

Weeks 11 to 14 are the window for the first-trimester screen. Today you check whether yours is booked inside it, and decide whether you want it at all.

Size this week
about the size of a fig
Length this week
around 41 mm from head to bottom
A woman and her partner at a kitchen table with a paper wall calendar laid flat between them, her finger on a date, bright window light, a toddler drawing beside them.

Eleven weeks and three days. There's a window opening this week, and today's job is to find out whether anything is booked inside it, and whether you want it to be.

Your baby

A single purple fig on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Around 41mm long from head to bottom, about the size of a fig (NHS). Something quiet happens around now: during weeks 11 to 14 the eyelids close, and they don't reopen until about week 28 (MedlinePlus). The eyes keep developing behind them.

Your body

The first-trimester screen is done at 11 to 14 weeks and combines a blood test with an ultrasound that measures the back of the baby's neck (OWH). That measurement is the nuchal translucency scan, which at 11 to 12 weeks looks for signs of trisomy 13, trisomy 18 and trisomy 21, Down syndrome (AAP). Combined with the PAPP-A and beta-HCG blood tests, it's called the First Trimester Combined Test (AAP). MedlinePlus gives the scan's range as around 9 to 13 weeks, often with blood tests (MedlinePlus).

There is a blood-only option too. Cell-free DNA screening can be performed as early as the 10th week; a negative result means it's unlikely the baby has Down syndrome or another trisomy, and a positive result indicates increased risk but cannot confirm a diagnosis (MedlinePlus). In the NHS system, screening for conditions such as Down's syndrome is discussed at the booking appointment (NHS).

Try today

  1. The window on the calendar

    Time: 5 minutes

    1. On the calendar, mark the first day of week 11 and the last day of week 14 (OWH).

    2. Check whether a screening appointment falls between those marks. If nothing is booked and you want it, call and ask which screening they offer and when (NHS).

    3. If you've decided against screening, write that on the calendar too, so nobody books it for you by default.

    Make it work:

    The AAP puts the nuchal scan at 11 to 12 weeks, so if you want it, aim for the early part of the window rather than the end (AAP).

Watch for

  • Normal

    nausea, mood changes and headaches, all on this week's NHS list (NHS).

    Call your provider

    for changes in your vision, or a headache that comes with blurred vision or dizziness (CDC).

  • Normal

    a screening result that reads as a probability rather than an answer (MedlinePlus).

    Call your provider

    to talk it through; "you and your provider should discuss if a cfDNA screening is right for you" (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    light spotting, which up to 1 in 4 women have at some point, most often in the first 3 months (MedlinePlus).

    Call your provider right away

    about any bleeding in the first 3 months (MedlinePlus).

For you

Screening is a choice. It estimates a chance; it doesn't give a diagnosis, and a positive result can't confirm one (MedlinePlus). Maternal age is the main risk factor for the trisomies, with 35 or older counted as the higher-risk group (MedlinePlus), but the decision is yours at any age. Genetic counseling can explain how a condition might affect you or your family (CDC); it explains, it doesn't decide.

If you're the partner: decide together before the appointment, not in the waiting room. "What would we do with a high-chance result?" is the real question, and it's easier at the kitchen table.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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