Cabinet to end 13-week scan from 2028
The current research programme is ending, but the cabinet has not ruled out an improved form of early screening.
Listen to this article
There is no audio version yet. Request one and an AI voice will read the article aloud.
Read by an AI voice.
The cabinet will end the national provision of the 13-week scan on 1 January 2028. Health Minister Sophie Hermans is following the conclusion of the Health Council of the Netherlands that, under the current model, the benefits do not outweigh the drawbacks.
The 13-week scan has been offered since September 2021 as part of the IMITAS study. The scan is used to look for serious physical abnormalities early in pregnancy. The study was intended to establish whether such early screening deserves a permanent place in prenatal care.
In September, the Health Council advised against introducing the scan as a permanent measure without further consideration. According to the initial research data, 129,704 scans were carried out and 531 abnormalities detected. At the same time, there were 1,313 positive results, of which 775 subsequently proved to be false positives. Some abnormalities were also missed.
According to the cabinet, such results can cause unnecessary anxiety among pregnant women and their partners and lead to follow-up investigations that do not confirm an abnormality. An early result can also create a false sense of reassurance when an abnormality is not detected. The council also emphasised that the data mainly concern the first year of the study.
The decision does not mean that the 13-week scan will disappear tomorrow. The current provision will remain available until 1 January 2028. The existing 20-week scan will remain part of prenatal screening. The cabinet letter does not concern individual medical choices or the result of a separate examination.
The cabinet does want to review the entire prenatal screening pathway. This will include examining how the dating scan, early screening and 20-week scan should relate to one another. The cabinet also wants the 20-week scan to be evaluated, because, according to the letter, it has not yet been fully evaluated.
For the time being, there will be no new research design for an improved 13-week scan. According to the cabinet, there is insufficient evidence that changes would improve the balance between benefits and risks. A future form of early screening remains possible if new research provides grounds for it.
For pregnant women, therefore, little will change in the short term in terms of the existing provision. The policy choice is mainly about which forms of screening the government should offer on a permanent basis and how much uncertainty is acceptable when examining a healthy population.
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- The cabinet will end the current provision on 1 January 2028.
- The Health Council of the Netherlands found the balance between benefits and drawbacks under the current model to be inadequate.
- The cabinet wants to review the entire prenatal screening pathway.
Left
Arguments Screening should remain accessible when it gives parents information and room to act at an earlier stage. The government should invest in better care, guidance and follow-up diagnostics rather than end the provision.
Values Reproductive autonomy, equal access and public healthcare.
Consequences The left fears that particularly vulnerable pregnant women will have fewer opportunities to prepare early for a serious diagnosis.
Centre
Arguments Population screening should only be offered on a permanent basis if its benefits demonstrably outweigh the harm. At the same time, the government should continue investing in research into a better design.
Values Caution, evidence-based policy and freedom of choice within safe limits.
Consequences The centre emphasises that a temporary halt is defensible as long as a new evaluation is seriously prepared.
Right
Arguments The government should be cautious about medical screening of healthy people and should not maintain a public scheme with many incorrect results. Parents should retain room for individual choices outside a national programme.
Values Personal responsibility, efficiency and protection from unnecessary government interference.
Consequences The right is primarily concerned about rising healthcare costs and medicalisation if screening is expanded without proven added value.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The article follows the cabinet letter and the advice of the Health Council of the Netherlands. The medical figures and the end date were checked directly; individual medical consequences have not been presented as personal advice.
- confirmed The cabinet will end the 13-week scan under the current research model on 1 January 2028. — This is stated in the cabinet’s response of 12 October 2026. source
- confirmed In the first year of the study, 129,704 scans were carried out and 531 abnormalities detected. — These figures appear in the cabinet’s response and the technical explanation. source
- confirmed 775 of 1,313 positive results were false positives. — The same figures appear in the official explanation. source