chances of bad news at 20 week scan mumsnet
I think at that time she had come to terms better with the fact that this baby was going to be terminated, and I don't think I was quite there. My partner tried to remain calm, and at my request rang my mum. We just couldn't use the words. Baby loss stories Scans cannot find all conditions. He was sure the consultant on Monday would see that the measurements were completely normal and that there was nothing to worry about. So we went back the day after Boxing Day, the 27th, and the consultant greeted us, which made my alarm bells go, and she started scanning us and I think her lines were, 'What concerns me about this baby is that they've got a diaphragmatic hernia, which has meant that part of the stomach of the baby was in its chest cavity.'. Never lacking a sense of the dramatic, it felt as if we shared the responsibility for the terrible, dirty act that we had committed. Our baby was beautiful. The same rush of excitement. He's now had the all clear and is wriggling round on . The first words I said were: "If there's anything wrong then it's my fault", I had been working 70, nearly 80 hours the previous weeks and pushed myself hard. It's part of our family. The thing about that which I felt was difficult is that we could tell when being scanned that there was something very seriously wrong. For women who have been given distressing news about their baby during the scan, there should be a health professional available to provide immediate support. I felt sad, but not the complete devastation of the last scan as they had seen a change of some sort. But other than that everything was fine. So even if anomolies are found, they don't always mean a problem.. x. I had issues at the 20 weeks scan with both of mine. We must have had one before that as well, we must have had one before that, but it came back quite normal. Which is what I'd seen. We'd sort of put those discussions to the back of our mind, and then all of a sudden there are other abnormalities so yeah it was a bit a bit of a shocker [laughs]. And thank God I did. The hormone levels had dropped, but they wanted to scan me again. But for those few days they were torture. Having the scan does not hurt but the sonographer may need to apply slight pressure to get the best views of your baby. And I said, I was still laughing, and I thought he was joking with me, and he said now I sort of could tell from his face that by that point he wasn't really joking anymore. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. We scattered his ashes over a bunch of snowdrops. There was complete silence during the scan. When he came back, he agreed on a termination. And I assumed my partner would feel the same. So we left it there, and we didn't actually think that there was anything really to worry about after that scan. BabyCenter. The anomaly scan, also called the 20 week scan or mid-pregnancy scan, is used to detect pregnancy irregularities significant in diagnosis of any of the following conditions: In most instances no serious issue will be found during the scan and many parents-to be will come away knowing that all is progressing nicely and, perhaps, having found out . She describes having to make a . The chances that anything bad will be discovered are v v small. I think I was about 20 weeks cos they, the hospital I think did the 12 and the 20, that was their standard thing and, yeah, so I got the 20 weeks one. The consultant had said it wouldn't be like a normal delivery. An appointment should be arranged as soon as possible and ideally within three working days. The next day, it was confirmed that my bloods had again dropped. I hadn't thought about the mechanics of such a late termination, but had assumed it would mean some kind of operation. Could you tell? And as soon as she said those words, both of us were like, 'Well what's wrong?'. Maybe. I think it's the same - in fact I think it was probably the same room, same consultant - and [sighs] I suppose it felt upsetting because at the dating scan you're full of hope and this scan we knew wasn't going to be good, we knew it was maybe the last time we would see the baby moving around. As soon as we arrived, we were shown to this little room. It was just a few little things like the kidneys were hard to find, and the stomach was hard to find, but that might be because it wasn't filled with fluid. [Husband] couldn't make it. Laura miscarried her twin babies in February. Most hospitals do not allow children to attend scans as childcare is not usually available. I mean, you just, you're just overwhelmed, it's so much fun. The same unique expression he had when he saw our two year old born. 13/12/2020 20:45. Next most likely is that baby doesn't co-operate and they can't see some parts of anatomy and call you back 2 weeks later just because they couldn't see (i had this but because twin pregnancy I was due to be scanned 2 weeks later anyway). I endured 12 hours of medication and in the early hours February 7, 56 days after my first scan (at nearly 18 weeks), I miscarried our babies. Like many things, the theory is very different from the reality. Wed like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services. So we hid in our house. You might be offered another test to find out for certain if your baby has one of the conditions. But it's bloody hard being miserable the whole time. That he - I think I was 21 weeks and 3 days, and he was coming up at 19 weeks and 4 days, or something like that. Mumsnet carries some affiliate marketing links, so if you buy something through our posts, we may get a small share of the sale (more details here). So when that happened to us I really didn't worry, I thought, you know, it was literally the baby was in awkward position, they couldn't see the heart and that was why. Eventually, the midwife said to us very sweetly, "I think we should deliver the baby now." We went in, had a scan, I can't remember the exact sequence of events because the baby was still in the wrong position. But you know I knew we had, we had to make a decision that was right for the baby as well. The same anticipation. Emma was 20 weeks' pregnant when a routine scan revealed that the baby she was expecting had Down's syndrome and heart problems. Being deeply unhappy and kind to others at the same time is nigh on impossible. She advised I be referred to the EPU to be assessed. You have accepted additional cookies. Some say this estimate is really below the reality, and the out-of-pocket average costs are higher. Living in this world must be unbearable for them. I managed to tell my mum, who said she would come with us to the hospital. Not surprisingly, people aren't quite sure how to deal with me. We don't know, but it's not looking good'. In this information, the word we refers to the NHS service that provides screening. Rather sharply, my partner tried to explain. It was all going wrong and I wanted to get as far away from the hospital as possible. All my plans were beginning to fall down. At that point, I got very not upset but quite sort of strongly severe sort of with the people at the hospital saying, 'Look, you know, that's 24 hours, possibly a 48 hours' wait - that's not something that's tenable. I went away and came back, and she couldn't get a good picture. And I can, the words that the scanning member of staff used, "Everything's fine", will stay with me forever. Again, no notes can have been written down because the midwife asked the same question. By 7pm, I still hadn't delivered the baby. There was a very marked lack of amniotic fluid which made it difficult, not even for the scanners to see, that made the picture of the scan look very, very different. The milk came and stayed for what seemed like for ever. And I remember, the first thing I remember when something might be wrong, was I saw, I finally, we finally saw an image of the skull on the screen, and there appeared to be a sort of black hole shape in the middle. And in this instance the scan was very evident that there was something very seriously wrong. In a small number of cases some very serious conditions are found. I remained positive, we researched lots of cases of mistaken dates, inconclusive scans, and compared them to our situation; scrutinising everything to try and believe it was all one big misunderstanding. There are no known risks to your baby or the mother from having an ultrasound scan but it is important that you consider carefully whether or not to have the 20-week scan. And also what the prognosis would mean for our two year old: now a very happy child, he would have a completely different childhood with such an ill sibling. 12/12/2012 22:41. I give obsessively to charity, especially those linked to sick children. The nursery I had selected for our two-year-old son; my maternity leave; the bunk beds; the summer holiday suitable for a newborn baby. I wasn't unduly worried at all. We didn't name him. . During the examination, sonographers need to keep the screen in a position that gives them a good view of your baby. I wanted to be a passive patient while the doctor did what he had to do. I was told this was common as my body and hormones still thought I was pregnant. Public Health England (PHE) created this information on behalf of the NHS. But that was too easy. My mum arrived early to look after our son, and my partner and I got a cab to the hospital. Check benefits and financial support you can get, Find out about the Energy Bills Support Scheme, NHS fetal anomaly screening programme (FASP), Screening tests for you and your baby (STFYAYB), nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3, more information and details of support groups. I couldn't work out what was taking so long and put it down to the doctor being young and inexperienced. Cardiac surgery can do some amazing things. I took my vitamins, stuck to the healthy diet and put on a brave face. Despite this new discovery, the sonographer was still concerned. But no. This image shows a baby's face and hands at 20 weeks, and gives you an idea of what you'll be able to see at this scan. Actually you could tell from the brain development as he scanned up through the chambers of the brain, that one quarter of the brain, one chamber was not evident. Sometimes doctors will wait to give the baby more time to develop and carry out repeat scans - this had confused several parents we talked to who had gone for repeat scans not knowing that the baby might have a problem. The first midwife seemed to understand what we were trying to say, and said she would ask the doctor to come and talk to us. Specialist scans are performed in specialist fetal units and if clinicians feel that there might be problems scanning will be done up to 32 weeks. We're going to go and see them. If one of the conditions is found or suspected, the sonographer may ask for a second opinion from another member of staff. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) have produced a report on Termination of Pregnancy for Fetal Abnormality in England, Scotland and Wales (May 2010). It doesn't remove the guilt, but I don't know what else to do. And that was Monday afternoon. For example, some babies have a condition called open spina bifida, which affects the spinal cord. And it all seemed so near at hand, you know, 31, 30 weeks, you feel like you're nearly, you're on the home stretch. This article was amended on 24 November 2015 to anonymise the writer. Nights were impossible. I remember thinking, 'Gosh' I now know it was a girl, I didn't know that then, that, 'She looks just like her brother'. And at that point I don't think we, I don't think we realised that there might have to be a decision, because we'd talked about it with, with Down's and the other possible problems, but at this point it was, well okay what can be done to fix the problem - because yes the heart's not developing properly but there must be something we can do. So we decided to book an early 10 week private scan. Emma was 20 weeks' pregnant when a routine scan revealed that the baby she was expecting had Down's syndrome and heart problems. I came back probably about 17 weeks pregnant and had the anomaly scan at 20 weeks and like most people expected everything to be fine and to come away with a lovely picture but unfortunately that isn't what happened. This does not mean there is anything to worry about. I felt I needed proof of what was wrong before I take such a huge decision and that I couldn't do it based on what someone had written on, on the paper. We thought it would all be over very quickly but, in fact, it was another 11 hours before the baby was delivered. Others, including those who had been given leaflets to read about the scan beforehand as well as some who were health professionals, said that they had been nave about the 20-week scan. Some things can be seen more clearly than others. I was given a leaflet and told to return four days later to see the consultant. You're in and out and that was it. Could she possibly have something that's not been detected? I have horrible thoughts. I sat and waited to be called for my scan. No one else attended and we didn't have a service. Finally, Monday came and we went back to the hospital. The same anxious wait for a little, pathetic cry. I was experiencing some light bleeding for the past few days. What happens at the second midwife appointment? As I lay down, and the sonographer started, I could see there was something wrong. Sometimes women were told that the sonographer had found a 'marker' or sign of a chromosomal condition and had to wait for an amniocentesis to confirm the findings. And I, my husband and I both ran our own business at the time so we were desperate to get back and do some work, and things were going really well, so.. It sounds crazy, but I just knew. That was the first time I had heard him cry. I'm trying to understand because I haven't seen a 3-D scan, what it tells the parents? Fine, go on my own. Parents get a chance to emotionally adapt to news and plan. So I lay on the bed and my partner sat next to me. Severe chromosomal conditions such as Edwards' syndrome are now often picked up in the first trimester antenatal screening but itwill usually be more obviousat the 18- 20 week scan, though usually a firm diagnosis will not be made until one or two specialists have weighed up all available evidence about the baby - which usually means that another expert needs to scan the baby again, or until the woman has had an amniocentesis. The baby was very, very small. But he was not sure. I wanted to let nature take its course. SO much upset and needless angst has been caused by 'soft markers' found at scans.
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