When negative is positive

Last week, at my doctor's appointment, I had blood drawn for a Quad Screen. It's a simple blood test that screens for:

• Problems in the development of the fetus's brain and spinal cord, called open neural tube defects. The quad marker screen can predict approximately 75-80% of open neural tube defects.
• Genetic disorders such as Down syndrome, a chromosomal abnormality. The quad marker screen can predict approximately 75% of Down syndrome cases in women under age 35 and over 80% of Down syndrome cases in women age 35 years and older.

The good news is my Quad Screen came back normal. And, WebMD tells me:

"In over 98% of pregnancies, normal quad marker screen results predict healthy babies and births without major complications."

Those sound like pretty good odds to me. The Web site does go on to tell me "there are no prenatal tests that can guarantee your baby and pregnancy will be completely healthy or without complications."

But, you know, they have to cover their WebMD butts, so they're going to be Negative Nancies. I, on the other hand, am going to focus on the positive.