chances of bad news at 20 week scan mumsnet chances of bad news at 20 week scan mumsnet

There is more detailed information about the main conditions that are looked for during this scan on NHS.UK. I remember thinking, 'Gosh' I now know it was a girl, I didn't know that then, that, 'She looks just like her brother'. I want to be happy again. And I'm glad I did and she's glad she didn't. And then all of a sudden, I was still laughing and we were all very upbeat, and then suddenly, he suddenly said, but I was still, still laughing, and he said to me, 'Oh, there might be a problem, there might be a problem with the, I think this baby has hydrocephalus'. I had to stop myself from yanking out the needle. Sometimes specialist scans such as 3D scans, or MRI scans, are used to examine the baby in greater detail. The next day, it was confirmed that my bloods had again dropped. You can change your cookie settings at any time. So I was a bit ignorant of the kind of things, you know, what the scans were really doing - maybe it was, a bit na've I think. Many parents were shocked by findings from the 20-week and later scans. This one cannot show you anything, that's what's inside your mind. The milk came and stayed for what seemed like for ever. The scan looks for 11 different conditions in your baby and cannot find everything that might be wrong. Read full disclaimer. The same anxious wait for a little, pathetic cry. News stories, speeches, letters and notices, Reports, analysis and official statistics, Data, Freedom of Information releases and corporate reports. Wishing to be anywhere, but here being told the same agonising truth over and over again. He looked excited. He looked fine. I was willing the results to be normal. As I left the room to compose myself. And as, and as soon as I saw the pictures of the scan, having had two normal pregnancies, even I could see that there was a marked contrast between this pregnancy and the pictures that I'd had previously. I agreed to an internal scan as the sonographer said we could get a better picture of what was happening. blood tests, CVS) were clear - and as one woman put it, 'after the triple test* (Down's syndrome screening) you stop thinking anything can go wrong'. It is a noise that will stay with me for ever. You may need to have a full bladder when you come for the appointment. 10/03/2021 16:13, @Cormoransjacket Eventually, the doctor finished the scan and said that some of the baby's measurements were very small. It's, I mean you can't tell from these scans what you're looking at really, but I remember thinking, 'it just doesn't look quite right' or something, but I didn't give it much thought. Thanks girls, it's amazing how protected our babies are in there isn't it?! I've still had no cramps or bleeding so fingers crossed everything is ok I just couldn't believe I fell down the stairs, I can't remember the last time I ever did that! hi ladies. The only thing you're thinking now is the birth, and what if something goes wrong in the birth? 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. And of course some other measurements she needed to take like the width of the skull, which she couldn't take because the fetus was in the wrong position. And I thought that if I were faced with the possibility of having an amnio, hours of discussion would follow - I would spend days mulling it over. But it's bloody hard being miserable the whole time. You will then be asked to raise your top to your chest and lower your skirt or trousers to your hips. Do you have any thoughts about that? And I can just remember flashing a look at you as if to say, 'Have I made a mistake here somewhere? My wife had been very, very healthy, more healthy than the first pregnancy, and of course was shattered by the fact that the news, the news was appalling, very serious faces. After half an hour of lying on the bed, I was starting to get nervous, but was excited to find out that the baby would be a boy and that I could see his little heart beating strongly. I want to be nice again. 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. 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.'. Although the anomaly scan is often called a 20-week scan, you may have it any time between 18 and 22 weeks, although it's usually done between 18 and 20 weeks. So and you could see the exomphalus, this little pouch, which was obviously just the intestines where they are. . Our nightmare began when I went for my 20-week scan. We bought little outfits, teddies, and researched all the vitamins and foods that I could eat. At the time the same thing had, exactly the same thing had happened to my friend a month before, and her scan was absolutely fine. Some of the conditions that can be seen on the scan will mean the baby may need treatment or surgery after it is born, for example cleft lip. Some people had underestimated how serious any abnormality found at this stage could be for the baby. . This time, they discovered the baby has a two vessel cord (only one vessel from placenta to baby instead of two) and I've been monitored to make sure the baby grows properly and kidneys aren't damaged. There is always a chance that a baby may be born with a health issue that scans could not have identified. It felt like a lifetime to reach our 12-week-scan. I want to enjoy my son again, without any reservations. In this information, the word we refers to the NHS service that provides screening. I thought surely everything is ok, as they couldn't detect twins the week before. I was sat on the sofa working, my son was at nursery and my partner was in the bath. Some say this estimate is really below the reality, and the out-of-pocket average costs are higher. We'd just spent some time away on a, on a summer holiday and come back expecting to have this scan and be told, 'All fine. Again, no notes can have been written down because the midwife asked the same question. And this baby sort of floated, and occasionally there was a slight movement, but it was very you could almost see that he was really poorly just from looking at the screen. I was saving my child from pain and suffering. And for that whole time, my partner and I were both crying uncontrollably. It would be a personal tragedy for my partner and me, but that is all. In fact, interestingly enough, going sort of. I didn't want to go through anymore scans. The people who did know what was going on seemed far too sure that we were doing the right thing, that there was really no choice to be made. This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/screening-tests-for-you-and-your-baby/11-physical-conditions-20-week-scan. Registered office: Nicholas House, 3 Laurence Pountney Hill, London, EC4R 0BB. But they didn't. For example, the babys brain, kidneys, internal organs or bones may not have developed properly. He's now had the all clear and is wriggling round on . So we decided that, to have the scan and we went along I think early in the week for that, and spent quite a lot of time with the consultant after that. It seemed a very arbitrary system, and so you quite often sat outside in the waiting room for a couple of hours before you actually got to see the consultant, which was, seemed you know, I kind of remember thinking before we went in to see him on the particular day when we found out there was a problem, 'Why are we sitting here? And that was scanning up from the above the head, then you were coming up through the child's head, so you were seeing the chambers in the brain, sort of it was evident in all four chambers of the brain, then suddenly one chamber was empty. The consultant at the time wasn't really that interested in that imagery. Several parents said they would have preferred being told something, even it was vague. We walked all the way home. Slightly marked from our peers. This scan takes place between 18 weeks and 20 weeks 6 days of pregnancy and is commonly called the 20-week scan. 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). So had to come back in a week's time for a scan, which again is quite a common thing I found out. . We've got the same battle scars. It sounds crazy, but I just knew. Thankfully I was met by an amazing sonographer, she was compassionate and understanding. All my plans were beginning to fall down. 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 didn't name him. Thick milky discharge at 14 weeks.tmi pic attached. And, sometimes, I wish I had invited my whole family into the hospital room to see him. 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]. He bluntly told me, he wasn't interested in whatever was seen before, he was only going to go by what he saw that day. An hour passed and I started to panic. It is also sometimes referred to as the mid-pregnancy scan. We left for home feeling completely numb. I had to wait for a doctor to explain the situation. 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. Just doing it. The consultant explained that this was just very bad luck and not, as far as they knew, genetic. My partner's face was lit up, seeing the baby for the first time. I get terribly irritated by my close friends and family. b>Bad news at 20 week scan. Impact of the 20-week and later specialist scans Smiling at myself and picturing me and Sam becoming parents. For example, some babies have a condition called open spina bifida, which affects the spinal cord. 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. Except for the persistent, nagging doubts. In the case of a suspected abnormality, women should be seen for a second opinion by an expert in fetal ultrasound, such as a fetal medicine specialist. I swallowed the tablet and we left the building. [Husband] couldn't make it. And they took me into another room. 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. And thank God I did. This was on the Friday. We, I was with my mum, and they scanned and found choroid plexus cysts on the brain, which is just a mark, it's a marker on the brain, it's a, what they call a 'soft marker'. We've joined the grown-ups and we both feel very different. However, at the time neither of us could articulate that. 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. It is essential that all practitioners performing fetal anomaly ultrasound screening should be trained to communicate abnormal findings to women, as such information is likely to have significant emotional impact. For many other women, the 18-20 week scan was the point at which they discovered the baby had serious problems. My baby might have Down's syndrome. But you could see there was something wrong? I was another one who did get bad news at the 20 week scan. But before he could speak, he, too, had broken down. They sort of drew some diagrams, and they said, 'But we need to refer you to a specialist to confirm the diagnosis'. But the consultant had found more spots on the heart and the measurements were the same. And they actually asked my husband to come in before they spoke to me. x. Baby loss support The thing that I have a very strong memory of is this child's face in amazing detail. At this point it wasn't looking great. It went from bad, to worse, to worse, to dire, then to better. Sometimes specialist scans such as 3D scans, or MRI scans, are used to examine the baby in greater detail. And at that, I let out a scream I think. You've had a scan, you've had the blood tests, you've been good. Again, we weren't understood. We had the 20 week scan yesterday and got some devastating news. She describes having to make a . And it turned out the baby's heart wasn't forming properly, the chambers weren't forming properly. And again, you know, you read all the books and it tells you 'this is the diagnostics', but after a while you don't hear that inside your head any more No, no, no, I'm fine - because everything's perfect. . Picture every packed football staduim up and down the country - all healthy pregnancies and births. I think the whole experience has made me a pretty nasty person. Another sick joke. We felt as if we were in limbo. Several women had taken young children with them to the 20-week scan because they expected to see 'nice pictures of the baby'. There's nothing wrong, you know, we've had all the tests, everything's fine,' and being very upbeat about it all. We're going to go and see them. I know I could have delivered him in a quarter of the time, but I couldn't bear the thought of him leaving me. On January 18, my baby was born, at 23 weeks - a little boy. Health professionals use the 18-20 week scan to examine the baby's size and position, and also to check if his/her brain, heart, lungs and other internal organs are developing as expected. Again the legs were quite twisted, they said that the baby's sternum was very short - things weren't in proportion you know - the head was quite large, the neck was very thick, there wasn't really like a neck as such it was just things were kind of - there were lots of things that obviously the consultant could see that we weren't aware of. 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. So it was quite common, this is what happens. Three midwives came and went. When I think about how long it took them to deliberate ultimately, maybe not, but it just felt like a bit of a fast food situation, didn't it? Some stories I hear are amazing! 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). In some very serious rare cases, where no treatment is possible, the baby will die soon after it is born or during pregnancy. My wife turned the screen away from her. Soon, the doctor came and inserted the tablets that would induce labour. The results come in stages. So it was just, we were coming up to the 20-week scan and I was just getting more relaxed, just actually starting to look at maybe baby catalogues or, you know, going down the baby aisle at the shops, which I'd always avoided. But with time although we will never forget, I know we will be ok again. We had to discuss what we wanted to do with the little body after delivery. It's been a heartbreaking nightmare. We had the baby cremated. That was the first time I had heard him cry. The contractions started very quickly and within an hour my waters had broken. It was real. But it was very evident. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, 'it didn't look good' and that 'my womb looked raggedy'. 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 . These were said to be soft markers fo a range of trisomies, 2 of which were incompatible with life. Some hospitals do offer earlier anomaly scans of the baby, but they will not show as much detail as scans performed between 18 and 20weeks. Sometimes it is difficult to get good views of a baby. Most scans show that babies seem to be developing as expected, and none of the 11 conditions are found. Never being able to look after himself. The rarest scenario is that the baby is severely ill and choices will need to be made. 26/09/2019 22:46. Reading individual, real-life experiences can be a helpful resource, but it is never a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment from a qualified health care provider. All my instincts were to protect my belly, yet here I was allowing someone to stick a huge needle into it. So she said, 'Come back on Monday. Some hospitals do offer earlier anomaly scans of the baby, but they will not show as much detail as scans performed between 18 and 20weeks. Next most likely (but actually in the minority) they identify something which whilst not 100% healthy is treatable. It seemed inconceivable that we would not be having a baby in May. And she said that, you know, as the, if the baby did develop further there would probably be other problems with internal organs that weren't really that visible at that stage. We didn't feel we could tell anyone what was happening. And attribute some blame to them. And so we talked about it euphemistically, never saying the word "research". My partner really wanted me to, and by that time I had no sense of what was right or what I should do. I mean, you just, you're just overwhelmed, it's so much fun. 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 couldn't bring myself to push. Instinctively, did it feel right? Our position in our families has shifted. 12/12/2012 22:41. And you know, we were laughing and joking. And as soon as she said those words, both of us were like, 'Well what's wrong?'. And it's, I can't remember exactly what it was now, it's about where the brain is supposed to form. And having read, since read my information on Edwards' syndrome, a good 85 per cent have problems with the heart. After preparing myself to face having to take the medication. But it is a soft marker for Edwards' syndrome. Went back a week later for the scan and, you were with me for this one, weren't you? Spina bifida can usually be seen clearly on a scan and of those babies who have this condition, around 9 out of 10 (90%) will be detected. Why me and not you, you bastard? I was wondering if anyone has been is this situation and can give me a glimmer of hope. Then, three days later, I would go to the labour ward - the ward I had been expecting to visit in two and a half months. And they took us out of the scanning room, into a more quiet room while they typed up the report. The doctor gave her consent, and I took the four little tablets. For five months my body had known there was something wrong, yet I had felt fantastic. We use some essential cookies to make this website work. The weeks since that day have been very weird. In a small number of cases some very serious conditions are found. The clinic advised a follow up scan the week after, to check on progress and to see what to do next. If you choose not to have the scan you can still have all other parts of your routine antenatal care. Wishing to be anywhere, but here being told the same agonising truth over and . Laura miscarried her twin babies in February. It can be such a shock so do whatever you need to feel better. 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. But even if I was there, I still think I would have wanted to see the detail on the scan. or sort of light chat that we'd, we'd experienced before with previous scans. He felt doing more blood tests would only cause me more discomfort and false hope. I returned to be told they wanted to scan me again, another internal to see exactly what was happening. Mm-hm. I think I don't everything just seems a real blur because it was, it was such a strange experience. My partner spent the weekend trying to convince me that things were OK. The consultant showed us the letter with our result on and, yes, there were the words "Down's syndrome". No sort of questions about, 'Do you want to know whether it's a boy or a girl?' He then told us what the prognosis would mean for the child. I remember thinking, 'that doesn't look quite right'. There was cause for concern. The appointment usually takes around 30 minutes. And I knew there was no way out. This was a ray of hope for us. 15/02/2014 08:02. In most cases the scan will show that your baby appears to be developing as expected but sometimes a condition is found or suspected. Nights were impossible. By this time, we were tired. Dont worry we wont send you spam or share your email address with anyone. I was then told yet again bad news. I tried to keep positive. We would terminate the pregnancy. Like many things, the theory is very different from the reality. Living in this world must be unbearable for them. Because, when you're angry with the world for dealing you such a shit time, you begin to hate the people who populate it. 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. I ran into the bedroom to tell Sam, who was ecstatic. chances of bad news at 20 week scan mumsnet. And it was then because we were at 20 weeks by this point, there was only fairly short window to actually, to get some more tests done, find out what the problems were, and then make any decisions that might have to be made. It felt as if we'd gone underground, that we were part of the criminal fraternity. the amniocentesis) and the pregnancy had already ended, or because the scan was not routinely offered in their region 5 or more years ago. 1. To help us improve GOV.UK, wed like to know more about your visit today. I know its hard- but i really wouldnt worry about it too much as the worry will stress you and your body out. Later, I did see and hold our baby. 13/12/2020 20:45. The hormone levels had dropped, but they wanted to scan me again. Possibly with hindsight we could have been more worried about it, but was probably a good thing we weren't, because we weren't worried about anything basically. Despite this new discovery, the sonographer was still concerned. I hated my body and hated every feeling I was having. Some people we talked to had not had a 18-20-week scan, either because their babies' abnormalities had been detected by earlier diagnostic tests (e.g. By this point I had stopped bleeding, this caused problems. So we gave up and said we'd arrange the funeral ourselves. Surely he couldn't have missed anything else that is so serious x. Health professionals use the 18-20 week scan to examine the baby's size and position, and also to check if his/her brain, heart, lungs and other internal organs are developing as expected. For example, you may be offered further tests that have a risk of miscarriage. I was experiencing some light bleeding for the past few days. 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), tbh, they never give you good news at scans. And, so they sent me home at that stage because they said the specialist wasn't available till the following day, which was awful. The doctor told me he was 98% sure this was a failing twin pregnancy. My partner was away working and was waiting to hear whether he was having a son or daughter. But he was wrong. You've had your, you know, you've had your triple test and everything was fine. 18-20 week scans provide clinicians with more information than earlier scans because by18 weeks a healthy baby should be larger and better developed. The "why me?" And they, sort of two of them were looking at the scan machine and then they sort of switched everything off and said, 'Oh, I think we have, might have a problem'. I broke down and started hitting my disgusting body that had done this. The sonographer then passes a hand-held probe over your skin to examine the babys body. It's quite common, perhaps 1 in 10 they find these, and within a few weeks they disappear. We were convinced everything would be OK. I sat and waited to be called for my scan. As though I went power mad for a week, killing my innocent unborn child, and now I am tainted for ever. I pray it's just her heart but I can't see anything else is wrong as I have been scanned by a consultant since I was 14 weeks and every time he has said everything looks okay and she is growing consistently. I popped out from work, telling my boss I'd be back in half an hour. It felt like a lifetime to reach our 12-week-scan. 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. Within it are a number of recommendations for the communication of findings from ultrasounds. The scan will find about half (50%) of those babies who have heart defects. I'd had the scan in the scanning room, I can't remember what they call it now, it's silly, it's gone from my head. We understand the real meaning of "shit happens". 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. I felt crushed, I wanted him to at least acknowledge what had been found already. Did you, how did that scan make you feel? Tommys is a registered charity in England and Wales (1060508) and Scotland (SC039280). So obviously quite relaxed. I felt empty, scared, guilty and incredibly heartbroken. I wasn't unduly worried at all. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, "it didn't look good" and that "my womb looked raggedy". Rather sharply, my partner tried to explain. I think what everyone is saying is that most likely outcome is that there are no problems at all. The baby kicked, blissfully unaware of what I had done. Emma was 20 weeks' pregnant when a routine scan revealed that the baby she was expecting had Down's syndrome and heart problems. I was becoming numb to the whole process. Your mind has closed to the possibility that there could be anything wrong. Usually, sonographers will ask a senior sonographer colleague to confirm findings and this should be done immediately. It was another consultant, who said, "I'm afraid I have some bad news - your baby has Down's syndrome." And still we asked to see a, Impact of the 20-week and later specialist scans. Intellectually, I knew this was not the case. If you are not sure, you can contact them and ask. Which is what I'd seen. Which she reassured us that she'd be absolutely fine, this was a one-off. I went home feeling crushed; Sam and I both felt helpless. 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. It is also sometimes referred to as the mid-pregnancy scan . 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. My partner went out with him, wanting to see him. Cardiac surgery can do some amazing things. Hugely upset that to think that the baby was so poorly.