Diagnosis

Thalassaemiaisoften detected during pregnancy or soon after birth.

Blood tests can also be carried out at any time to check for the condition or to see if you're acarrier of thalassaemia and are at risk of having a child with the condition.

Screeningduring pregnancy

Screening to check if a baby is at risk of being born with thalassaemia is offered to all pregnant women in England.

Thisinvolves having a blood test to check if youhave the thalassaemia trait. If the mother does have the trait,the father is then offered a test to see if they carry it too.

Screeningshould ideally be carried out before you're 10 weeks pregnant, so you and your partner have time to consider the option of further tests to find out if your baby will be born with thalassaemia.

.

Testing after birth or later in life

Newborn babies aren't routinely tested for thalassaemia becausethe test usedisn't always reliable soon after birth and the condition isn't immediately dangerous.

However,themainform of the condition beta thalassaemia major is often picked up as part of thenewborn blood spot test(heel prick).

A blood test can be carried out at any point to diagnose thecondition if a child or adult hassymptoms of thalassaemia and the condition wasn't picked up earlier on.

Testing for the thalassaemia trait

A blood test can be done at any time to find out if you have the thalassaemia trait and are at risk of having a child with the condition.

This can be particularly useful if you have a family history of the condition or your partner is known to carry thalassaemia.

If you're worried that you couldbe a carrier of thalassaemia, you can ask for a test from your GP surgery ornearest sickle cell and thalassaemia centre.

Both men and women can have the test.

Read moreinformation aboutcarriers of thalassaemia.