chances of bad news at 20 week scan mumsnet

It was another consultant, who said, "I'm afraid I have some bad news - your baby has Down's syndrome." And everybody knows and everything is right. What happens at the second midwife appointment? Our position in our families has shifted. The contractions started very quickly and within an hour my waters had broken. And in this instance the scan was very evident that there was something very seriously wrong. At which point they turned round and said, 'Well, there is something very seriously wrong with the baby, we don't know exactly what, but you do need to have a more in-depth scan at your regional hospital to find out the detail'. He was tiny, perfect and a Down's syndrome baby. However painful and traumatic the labour was, it was better than what would happen at the end of it. We need to have your opinion'. For once in my life, I had been organised. We couldn't say we'd lost the baby, because he was still kicking away, but we couldn't pretend everything was fine, either. I know its hard- but i really wouldnt worry about it too much as the worry will stress you and your body out. Not surprisingly, people aren't quite sure how to deal with me. But the consultant had found more spots on the heart and the measurements were the same. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, "it didn't look good" and that "my womb looked raggedy". And it's, I can't remember exactly what it was now, it's about where the brain is supposed to form. Most hospitals do not allow children to attend scans as childcare is not usually available. Picture every packed football staduim up and down the country - all healthy pregnancies and births. However, a few hours later there was another shift change. So at least then we went to that next stage prepared for the worst really. Seeing your baby on a screen can be really exciting. The consultant explained that this was just very bad luck and not, as far as they knew, genetic. Some stories I hear are amazing! I agreed to an internal scan as the sonographer said we could get a better picture of what was happening. I was told that while bad news at the 12 w scan is often of the life or death kind, bad news at the 20 week scan is often of the 'needs an operation in childhood' or 'needs to wear a brace for a year' kind. And so we talked about it euphemistically, never saying the word "research". But he was not sure. I was saving my child from pain and suffering. I tried not to sit still for too long, because then I became too aware of the little thing inside me. He was sure the consultant on Monday would see that the measurements were completely normal and that there was nothing to worry about. 2022. Mm-hm. I tried to show him the notes and the photos. That they could have spotted something, or not? 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. 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. Not a good sign in a hospital consulting room. And so we had to go out a couple of times, [wife] had to walk around, and she had a drink of water, which is supposed to sort of change things inside, or help the baby turn around or something because the sonographer couldn't get the measurements she wanted. Can't seem to find info on the Internet. With my oldest it turns out she has a minor thing that affects 1 in 1000 of the population and wont harm her at all it's just "there" and with my second the issue turned out to be nothing. 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. Did you, how did that scan make you feel? But now that's changed. This one cannot show you anything, that's what's inside your mind. Some say this estimate is really below the reality, and the out-of-pocket average costs are higher. This scan takes place between 18 weeks and 20 weeks 6 days of pregnancy and is commonly called the 20-week scan. As soon as we arrived, we were shown to this little room. 20 week scans look for 11 different anomalies as a rule, however, indicators (markers) are not terribly reliable and in all the literature I found, the targets set for stonographers look like they only pick up around 50% or less of these variants. We didn't feel we could tell anyone what was happening. I had hope that the little bumps inside me were fighting just as much as I was to stay with me. We scattered his ashes over a bunch of snowdrops. Like many things, the theory is very different from the reality. After that I got, I, it was about in, in 19-, hang on a minute, 2001 I got pregnant again, slightly unexpectedly. So we went home, me to rest in an attempt to prevent miscarriage, my partner to reassure us both. So she said, 'Come back on Monday. Though the 18-20 week scan can detect when certain parts of the baby's body have grown abnormally, it may not be possible for clinicians to identify why it has happened or make a firm diagnosis based on the scan alone. It's a bit at the back of the brain and - no I can't remember what it is - it's called, it's something that's called Dandy-Walker mal, 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). Some people we talked to had not had a 18-20-week scan, either because their babies' abnormalities had been detected by earlier . We went in, had a scan, I can't remember the exact sequence of events because the baby was still in the wrong position. The rarest scenario is that the baby is severely ill and choices will need to be made. I felt the dread run through me. We felt as if we were in limbo. 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. All my instincts were to protect my belly, yet here I was allowing someone to stick a huge needle into it. I know it is still early days. Some people want to find out if their baby has one of the 11 conditions and some do not. As I waited for the doctor back on the EPU unit. I didn't want to go through anymore scans. I am a darker, harder version of myself. 18-20 week scans provide clinicians with more information than earlier scans because by18 weeks a healthy baby should be larger and better developed. And I wish that I'd been told at that point, that somebody had actually turned round to me and said, 'Look, I'm sorry, but I think there's something very wrong. I wanted to be a passive patient while the doctor did what he had to do. It was far too much power; neither of us wanted it. The 18 -20 week fetal anomaly scan is a watershed in most pregnancies because for the majority of women it will be the last time they are scanned before giving birth. They sort of drew some diagrams, and they said, 'But we need to refer you to a specialist to confirm the diagnosis'. 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. Except for the persistent, nagging doubts. That's fine. I went home feeling crushed; Sam and I both felt helpless. 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. So I took the test and jumped in the shower. So it was quite common, this is what happens. I believed at this point I had miscarried, they wanted me to come back I'm for a follow up scan. We've joined the grown-ups and we both feel very different. It was a bit worrying but on the plus side I got an extra couple of scans and an extra couple of pictures. He had to come to the decision by himself. 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. I couldn't bring myself to push. We had amnio and then spent a week in absoute anguish waiting for the outcome which was no trisomies. How common is it to find anomolies at the 20 week scan? - Netmums And that was extraordinary to see the detail that that could offer. 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 my little leaflet, printed off leaflet about choroid plexus cysts. It is extremely rare for these pregnancies to reach term as they typically spontaneously miscarry early in pregnancy. So that was it. Several women had taken young children with them to the 20-week scan because they expected to see 'nice pictures of the baby'. My heart goes out to you OP. 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. We were told to go to the hospital immediately. There is more detailed information about the main conditions that are looked for during this scan on NHS.UK. In some cases concerns in utero fix themselves sometimes needs treatment. We were bound to each other because of the blood that was on both our hands. Being deeply unhappy and kind to others at the same time is nigh on impossible. Bad news at 20 week scan, please help. | Mumsnet No discussion, no quiet contemplation. Some of the other conditions, such as heart defects, are more difficult to see. It was probably all right but hadn't had any fluid in it at the moment. It was horrible. I travelled to work that day feeling amazing. But no. Those two weeks were agonising for us both. Some things can be seen more clearly than others. I had to wait yet another sleepless night. I guess the morphine made it easier. He sounded like a wild animal in pain, deep pain. A black and white picture of your baby will then be seen on the ultrasound screen. There's nothing wrong, you know, we've had all the tests, everything's fine,' and being very upbeat about it all. The 18 -20 week fetal anomaly scan is a watershed in most pregnancies because for the majority of women it will be the last time they are scanned before giving birth. We understand the real meaning of "shit happens". She didn't say at the time that it was a major problem or that it was something to watch out for. I didn't think my instincts were worth much. But here I was, minutes later, lying down, waiting. And still we asked to see a, Impact of the 20-week and later specialist scans. Two days, after on Christmas Eve, (my 12 week date) I had more blood tests. It was, 'Oh we'll come back to that'. So I no longer trusted my instincts. 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. Thick milky discharge at 14 weeks.tmi pic attached. But my brain had been given a train of thought that was impossible to stop. Some parents wondered if it was possible to have the same scan done at 16 weeks rather than 20 weeks. Tears started to roll down my face. 13/12/2020 20:45. All women are offered a dating scan, and an 18- 20 week fetal anomaly ultrasound scan, in line with NICE and UK National Screening Committee recommendations. To help us improve GOV.UK, wed like to know more about your visit today. And I felt like a murderer. . At first, I still had to deal with the physical implications of having given birth. So he went out for a walk. So we went home really and I sort of had to think about it all night. The week that followed was an agonising wait. From losing my dad to his battle with cancer, to then having to face another battle with cancer and my mum; thankfully she pulled though. So on the Monday we went in to see the senior sonographer, I think she was a consultant at the hospital. It doesn't remove the guilt, but I don't know what else to do. We were convinced everything would be OK. I did think it was a bit strange that she wasn't talking, and then she sort of said, 'Oh, I think there's a problem. This was on the Friday. The gel makes sure there is good contact between the probe and your skin. In some very serious rare cases, where no treatment is possible, the baby will die soon after it is born or during pregnancy. Baby loss support We had the 20 week scan yesterday and got some devastating news. Surely he couldn't have missed anything else that is so serious x. And the local hospital wanted to send us off to the regional hospital to actually confirm that, and were not really prepared to say at that time that there was something very seriously wrong. . 80 percent of my pregnancies have ended in death and I felt like they were telling me those babies didn't matter. 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. I wrote a few things down last night when we were trying to go over things, just to remind myself. We went, I went in to the scanning room and they're quite bland facially anyway, whether everything's fine or not they just look at the screen to start off with and do measurements but I very quickly realised that the woman's demeanour wasn't, even for a bland face, was concerning. I've realised that being a nice person is a luxury some can't afford. The hardest thing I have ever done. 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. Public Health England (PHE) created this information on behalf of the NHS. She didn't want to see the baby. Had 34wk scan last week and all is well - of all the babies found to have a two vessel cord, was told less than 6% experience any growth issues etc. And I, and, I felt the weight of deciding what to do about it. Cardiac surgery can do some amazing things. The 18-20 week antenatal scan and further tests. By my own hand, I had to end the pregnancy. SO much upset and needless angst has been caused by 'soft markers' found at scans. As I lay down, and the sonographer started, I could see there was something wrong. Do you have any thoughts about that? These were said to be soft markers fo a range of trisomies, 2 of which were incompatible with life. Any delay in receiving more information about the abnormality and its implications will be distressing for women and this should be acknowledged. I remember thinking, 'that doesn't look quite right'. It is as though our pain means we've earned the right to be taken more seriously. I managed to tell my mum, who said she would come with us to the hospital. No, you couldn't see there was anything wrong. I would be put to sleep, and when I woke up I wouldn't be pregnant any more. So and you could see the exomphalus, this little pouch, which was obviously just the intestines where they are. . Went off for the 20-week scan, which you didn't, you weren't there, were you, for the first scan? Last updated July 2017. And, so they sent me home at that stage because they said the specialist wasn't available till the following day, which was awful. 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. Within it are a number of recommendations for the communication of findings from ultrasounds. He suggested he perform an amniocentesis immediately, to rule out any chromosomal problems. Yeah, yeah. The following is a quote from their report: If the scan reveals either a suspected or confirmed abnormality, the woman should be informed by the sonographer at the time of the scan. Tommys is a registered charity in England and Wales (1060508) and Scotland (SC039280). During the examination, sonographers need to keep the screen in a position that gives them a good view of your baby. We would terminate the pregnancy. I was experiencing some light bleeding for the past few days. We bought little outfits, teddies, and researched all the vitamins and foods that I could eat. 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. But at the 20 week scan, which was on a Wednesday, we saw the nurse at the local hospital, the sonographer, and she did a scan and she found that the femur length was quite short in the, in the fetus. 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. 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. I went away and came back, and she couldn't get a good picture. So once again we were right back down, really no, really not knowing what to expect. See you in -. I took my vitamins, stuck to the healthy diet and put on a brave face. Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. 20-week ultrasound (anomaly scan) - BabyCenter Australia . I have horrible thoughts. So we'd gone through the Down's syndrome or worse scare, we'd had conversations about what we would do, if it was confirmed that it was Down's syndrome or another syndrome, another sort of chromosome abnormality. After the triple test you stop thinking, you stop thinking that anything can go wrong. 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). 'I was having nightmares and panic attacks. If you choose not to have the scan you can still have all other parts of your routine antenatal care. In this information, the word we refers to the NHS service that provides screening. So, in the end, we said we would arrange our own funeral. I sat and waited to be called for my scan. What are the chances of bad news at the 20 week scan | Mumsnet The consultant at the time wasn't really that interested in that imagery. 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. It sounds crazy, but I just knew. Find more information and details of support groups on NHS.UK. Most scans show that babies seem to be developing as expected, and none of the 11 conditions are found. But I still didn't want to be the one who stopped this baby's chance to live. We talked all night and thanked God for crap television. We use some essential cookies to make this website work. The doctor gave her consent, and I took the four little tablets. 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. The sonographer told me to take the notes, and the scan photos with me so they could review them also. This is not what I imagined pregnancy to feel like', Baby Loss Awareness Week - Voice Five - Bryony Seabrook. But even if I was there, I still think I would have wanted to see the detail on the scan. No one else felt him kick. But you know I knew we had, we had to make a decision that was right for the baby as well. At first the closeness came through a sense of guilt. 18-20 week scans provide clinicians with more information than earlier scans because by18 weeks a healthy baby should be larger and better developed. It was exactly like the labour I had with my first child. the amniocentesis) and the pregnancy had already ended, or because the scan was not routinely offered in their region 5 or more years ago. This short video explains screening for 11 physical conditions in pregnancy. It's quite common, perhaps 1 in 10 they find these, and within a few weeks they disappear. 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. It feels very lonely and isolating. It was real. 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. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, "it didn't look good" and that "my womb looked raggedy". We both thought we would like some good to come out of this horrible experience, so wanted to talk to somebody about the possibility of using the body for research purposes. 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. The doctor didn't come. But everything seemed fine and we'd been sitting waiting to see the consultant, and I'd had an examination on the bed. I felt empty, scared, guilty and incredibly heartbroken. Specialist scans had a powerful effect on some parents because they could see the baby more clearly and in some cases people recognised which parts of the baby's body were not working properly. I think they perhaps could have done, if they had looked a bit closely. We're going to go and see them. So that just left the talipes. 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. But you could see there was something wrong?

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