1. a medical procedure in which a needle is inserted through the abdomen into the amniotic sac to extract amniotic fluid for testing, typically to detect fetal abnormalities or genetic disorders
Usage: medical/clinical term; typically performed during pregnancy, usually in the second trimester

Examples

• The doctor recommended amniocentesis to check for Down syndrome.
• Amniocentesis carries a small risk of miscarriage, so the procedure is carefully considered.
• The results from the amniocentesis showed that the fetus was developing normally.
• Pregnant women over 35 are sometimes offered amniocentesis as part of prenatal screening.
• The amniocentesis procedure took only a few minutes to complete.