It can be such a shock so do whatever you need to feel better. As I was called for my scan I was nervous and emotional. 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? 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. 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 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. Abortion has never raised any moral dilemmas for me and I am an atheist, so there are no religious issues. An hour passed and I started to panic. Within two days I was waiting in my local EPU unit for further tests. Read full disclaimer. Just that really! And at that, I let out a scream I think. We saw the consultant, who was reassuring, saying that he would rescan me and was sure everything would be fine. Two days, after on Christmas Eve, (my 12 week date) I had more blood tests. I should stop being dramatic and pessimistic. 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. Life expectancy of 30 or 40. My partner spent the weekend trying to convince me that things were OK. And so, yeah we got to, carried on with the pregnancy, kept seeing the consultant, kept sitting in the waiting room outside, because there was a terribly long waiting time sometimes, depending on what time you had the appointment. My belly was growing and I was feeling great. We use some essential cookies to make this website work. I had no issues at my 20wk scan with DD - and neither did any of my antenatal group (9 mums). There is more detailed information about the main conditions that are looked for during this scan on NHS.UK. The scan will find about half (50%) of those babies who have heart defects. 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. It wasn't measuring at all the right measurements for the age - there was a heart defect, the limbs were sort of distorted, the arms were, you know - you could see that the arms were very sort of contracted, the hands were contracted. 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. She wanted to have a look at the skull, which was the main thing, but she couldn't see it from where the baby was. 10/03/2021 16:13, @Cormoransjacket Fine, go on my own. 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. We're going to go and see them. 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. We bought little outfits, teddies, and researched all the vitamins and foods that I could eat. 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. By this point I had stopped bleeding, this caused problems. Except for the persistent, nagging doubts. My baby might have Down's syndrome. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, "it didn't look good" and that "my womb looked raggedy". If you are offered further tests, you will be given more information about them so that you can decide whether or not you want to have them. He felt doing more blood tests would only cause me more discomfort and false hope. Several women had taken young children with them to the 20-week scan because they expected to see 'nice pictures of the baby'. 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. 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. Desperately trying to hold onto the glimmer of hope we'd been given. I had never imagined having an amniocentesis. The scan will look in detail at your babys bones, heart, brain, spinal cord, face, kidneys and abdomen. We were bound to each other because of the blood that was on both our hands. We strongly advise readers not to take drugs that are not prescribed by your qualified healthcare provider. He then told us what the prognosis would mean for the child. 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 instance a couple who knew their baby was 'on the small size' were told he was fine at the 18-20 week scan, but discovered at 32 weeks that he had microcephaly. 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. By this time, we were tired. But everything seemed fine and we'd been sitting waiting to see the consultant, and I'd had an examination on the bed. Being deeply unhappy and kind to others at the same time is nigh on impossible. So choroid plexus cysts on their own, no problem, but if there's something else wrong, then that's a problem. 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. Limitations of the 18-20 week scan I didn't want to be convincing him to agree with me. BabyCenter. . Never lacking a sense of the dramatic, it felt as if we shared the responsibility for the terrible, dirty act that we had committed. 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. They said the brain was okay -, We were in there for a matter of minutes, literally -, In and out. I felt the dread run through me. 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. 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). We had the baby cremated. My partner watched the baby come out, and for a split second I saw a look of joy on his face. She brought up a picture of the heart on the screen. The first result, which tells you if the baby has Down's syndrome, is ready in three days, but the other chromosomal problems cannot be eliminated for up to three weeks. Can't seem to find info on the Internet. I was sat on the sofa working, my son was at nursery and my partner was in the bath. 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.'. In most cases the scan will show that your baby appears to be developing as expected but sometimes a condition is found or suspected. Surely he couldn't have missed anything else that is so serious x. 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'. At first the closeness came through a sense of guilt. Everywhere you look, there are happy, fat, smug pregnant women. I was given a leaflet and told to return four days later to see the consultant. Tommys is a registered charity in England and Wales (1060508) and Scotland (SC039280). Because, when you're angry with the world for dealing you such a shit time, you begin to hate the people who populate it. He told me that they may want to do blood tests, but that 'he didn't see the point'. I managed to tell my mum, who said she would come with us to the hospital. So we had to go in and out a couple of times, and we were just waiting around for ages and ages. The "why me?" Entering the labour ward, I waited for someone to say, "Go home, you are 16 weeks too early." And you know, we were laughing and joking. And everybody knows and everything is right. Well, at the regional hospital it was a 3-D scan. And so began the most bizarre day of my life. I want to stop having such horrible thoughts. My heart goes out to you OP. I went away and came back, and she couldn't get a good picture. The appointment usually takes around 30 minutes. Eventually, the midwife said to us very sweetly, "I think we should deliver the baby now." I remember thinking, 'Gosh' I now know it was a girl, I didn't know that then, that, 'She looks just like her brother'. We spent the next few weeks in a happy bubble. I tried not to sit still for too long, because then I became too aware of the little thing inside me. The clinic advised a follow up scan the week after, to check on progress and to see what to do next. I couldn't bear to see the baby and asked the midwife to take him away immediately. 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). And it turned out the baby's heart wasn't forming properly, the chambers weren't forming properly. I know it is still early days. The doctor wanted to do another blood test to confirm a significant drop in my hormone levels. The contractions started very quickly and within an hour my waters had broken. The same sense of expectation. And then I can't remember an awful lot more about that scan apart from that feeling of searching of how to react in an unknown situation - your brain's kind of trying to work out what to say, what to do, but I had no idea what to say or what to do and I think my first thought was, does that mean our first daughter's okay? Just wonder whether anyone had ever been told? . He's now had the all clear and is wriggling round on . See more information about the 20-week ultrasound scan. He felt strong and fit and healthy. 'I was having nightmares and panic attacks. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, 'it didn't look good' and that 'my womb looked raggedy'. So we left it there, and we didn't actually think that there was anything really to worry about after that scan. For once in my life, I had been organised. Another sick joke. x. Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. And still we asked to see a, Impact of the 20-week and later specialist scans. Last updated July 2017. Why me and not you, you bastard? Can you describe the difference between the scan at this later stage in a pregnancy? Is it the same scan or is it the same equipment? hi ladies. I know I could have delivered him in a quarter of the time, but I couldn't bear the thought of him leaving me. (See. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Immediately I knew what decision we should take. But it is a soft marker for Edwards' syndrome. Eventually, the doctor finished the scan and said that some of the baby's measurements were very small. I travelled to work that day feeling amazing. The pain was bearable but uncomfortable, the hospital rang me a few days later and asked me how I was. And they took me into another room. Thinking back, I don't know how we left without him. Not marginalised into being a victim. On the next shift, the new midwife asked us again. There was complete silence during the scan. I returned to be told they wanted to scan me again, another internal to see exactly what was happening. It would have been nice to see someone straight away because I was in such shock. We bought a two tests that evening (quite lucky as I messed the first one up!). For five months my body had known there was something wrong, yet I had felt fantastic. I know it sounds odd that you want to hear that it's wrong, but you, you know it's wrong, and you, you want to be reassured either that it's okay or is there something seriously wrong. Registered office: Nicholas House, 3 Laurence Pountney Hill, London, EC4R 0BB. As I waited for the doctor back on the EPU unit. It was exactly like the labour I had with my first child. It felt as if we'd gone underground, that we were part of the criminal fraternity. I wanted to let nature take its course. I couldn't work out what was taking so long and put it down to the doctor being young and inexperienced. You get extra care and monitoring as appropriate and baby is proactively treated. 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. It was probably all right but hadn't had any fluid in it at the moment. There were also two spots on his heart, which were "soft markers" for Down's syndrome. There is always a chance that a baby may be born with a health issue that scans could not have identified. Cardiac surgery can do some amazing things. So we went home really and I sort of had to think about it all night. I had hope that the little bumps inside me were fighting just as much as I was to stay with me. . The week that followed was an agonising wait. But worse was to come. . And before they gave me any of the results she asked a colleague to come and told me she wanted to check something, with a colleague, and by then I was getting very concerned because I'd never had that happen before. The next day, it was confirmed that my bloods had again dropped. 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. Can you remember that minute. I was wondering if anyone has been is this situation and can give me a glimmer of hope. She endured many agonising rounds of scans and tests, and unfortunately met with some unhelpful attitudes from some healthcare professionals. 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". 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. How was that scan different from the dating scan? Yeah, yeah. The 18-20 week antenatal scan and further tests, Ending the pregnancy for family & personal reasons, Deciding whether to see, hold and name the baby, Photographs and other mementoes of the baby, Saying goodbye to the baby - services & funerals, Coping with bereavement - women's experiences, Coping with bereavement - men's experiences, Men's ideas about their role in ending a pregnancy. Rather sharply, my partner tried to explain. 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. I was willing the results to be normal. 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. I could hardly breathe. And thank God I did. Several parents said they would have preferred being told something, even it was vague. A long process of blood tests, scans, doctors and hospitals. 2022. Let a mum know you're thinking of them send one of our personalised Mother's Day cards today, Home My mum arrived early to look after our son, and my partner and I got a cab to the hospital. I mean, you just, you're just overwhelmed, it's so much fun. It is extremely rare for these pregnancies to reach term as they typically spontaneously miscarry early in pregnancy. 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. In this information, the word we refers to the NHS service that provides screening. It was over. Like many things, the theory is very different from the reality. It was, 'Oh we'll come back to that'. And I'd been on the internet looking up all sorts of things and everything was so negative, it was very depressing, because I thought, 'Well, maybe they've made a mistake, or maybe it's something they can fix, I don't know'. Tissue paper will be tucked around your clothing to protect it from the ultrasound gel, which will then be put on your tummy. We decided that we wanted medication to help me. She describes having to make a . I would be put to sleep, and when I woke up I wouldn't be pregnant any more. And there [sighs] was a very dark patch over one, where the eye socket was, and they didn't know it, in the Edward's babies sometimes the eyes don't develop properly, or it might have been bleeding, they weren't very sure. 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 . I popped out from work, telling my boss I'd be back in half an hour. Never being able to look after himself. The doctor or midwife looking after you will let you know before you come. We couldn't say we'd lost the baby, because he was still kicking away, but we couldn't pretend everything was fine, either. And attribute some blame to them. Which she reassured us that she'd be absolutely fine, this was a one-off. During the examination, sonographers need to keep the screen in a position that gives them a good view of your baby. 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). It was real. I then had to wait in the room along with many other patients for an hour so they could observe me. Likely to have serious medical problems all his life. All my plans were beginning to fall down. 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 . It was interesting - well it was fantastic to see this fetus and to see this child that was yours that was horribly ill - but you didn't really get much opportunity to see that because the consultant was more about measurements and all sorts of blood flow and various other screens coming up. 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. Somehow, I walked from the sofa up to the bathroom and told my partner. . No discussion, no quiet contemplation. The thing that I have a very strong memory of is this child's face in amazing detail. And having read, since read my information on Edwards' syndrome, a good 85 per cent have problems with the heart. As though I went power mad for a week, killing my innocent unborn child, and now I am tainted for ever. And shortly after that, that scan we'd finished and the consultant leant back and said, 'I'm afraid we have some problems here'. 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. Instead, we were shown to a room slightly away from the rest of the ward and the midwife stayed with us to talk through what was going to happen. There was an extra digit on one of the hands. The scan can provide information that may mean you have to make further, important decisions. I was disgusted - disgusted that such a tablet existed, let alone that I should have to take it. So she said, 'Come back on Monday. And that was Monday afternoon. Some stories I hear are amazing! So I no longer trusted my instincts. Could you tell? I want to be nice again. The doctor explained the options I had to manage my miscarriage. At first, I still had to deal with the physical implications of having given birth. Still, the consultant thought things would be OK. The same unique expression he had when he saw our two year old born. It was another consultant, who said, "I'm afraid I have some bad news - your baby has Down's syndrome." I faced another internal scan where I began to feel helpless and alone. That was the first time I had heard him cry. It doesn't remove the guilt, but I don't know what else to do. By my own hand, I had to end the pregnancy. The consultant showed us the letter with our result on and, yes, there were the words "Down's syndrome". For many other women, the 18-20 week scan was the point at which they discovered the baby had serious problems. Laura miscarried her twin babies in February. It was the end of January, very end - about the 29th - I'd gone into, I'd gone into 5 months by then. As two youngest siblings, we were both permanently stuck in the irresponsible, childish role. 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. Very occasionally this second scan cannot be completed, for example because: In this case you will not be offered another screening scan but you will offered an all over physical examination for your baby after birth. 12/12/2012 22:41. And the doctor - because it was a doctor rather then just the, a sonographer or whatever the correct term is - was scanning my wife, and she hovered over the heart of the baby and said, 'Oh there's the heart, we'll come back to that'. The doctor told me he was 98% sure this was a failing twin pregnancy. I couldn't really believe what they were saying. And that, that was when things where it started going a bit wrong. And it was just a bit of a shock because it's not really what you want to hear - you don't really expect that. I remember thinking, 'that doesn't look quite right'. We're still not at the end of our journey, but we're much further along. 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. And the first few things they said it didn't sound as thing, as though things were terribly wrong. Instead, I had to raise a glass of water to my mouth, take a swig and swallow the tablet. 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. Maybe our son would have overcome his problems, survived his illnesses, led a happy life. These were said to be soft markers fo a range of trisomies, 2 of which were incompatible with life. We had to discuss what we wanted to do with the little body after delivery. The scan was inconclusive, but the size of my little bump was measuring a lot smaller than it should have for 10 weeks. And how wrong could they be? I didn't sleep that night I don't think. 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. But on, in the middle of March, 10th March it was, we had a 20 week scan. Sam followed and I broke down. The pain was excruciating, but nothing compared to how I felt inside. My partner really wanted me to, and by that time I had no sense of what was right or what I should do. So we decided to book an early 10 week private scan. This does not mean there is anything to worry about. Went back a week later for the scan and, you were with me for this one, weren't you? But even if I was there, I still think I would have wanted to see the detail on the scan. The midwife was on the verge of tears and I felt responsible. 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'. So I trusted him. We talked about the different sorts of pain relief I could have and I opted for a morphine drip, which I could control. After the triple test you stop thinking, you stop thinking that anything can go wrong. We talked all night and thanked God for crap television. Instinctively, did it feel right? I'm trying to understand because I haven't seen a 3-D scan, what it tells the parents? And I felt like a murderer. Well send you a link to a feedback form. The same anticipation. It was positive, and I felt elated. 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. 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. As you felt that, you know, it was probably going to show lots of problems and it just wasn't what we wanted, but at the same time we needed to sort of see it and, we needed to prove it I suppose. However, at the time neither of us could articulate that. 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. Because we knew that that wasn't normal, that wasn't what we'd experienced before, it wasn't just the, 'There's the arm, there's the leg, oh look the baby's moving'. The only thing you're thinking now is the birth, and what if something goes wrong in the birth? It sounds crazy, but I just knew. . This might be uncomfortable. 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. 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. It felt so wrong. That he was small. Some parents wondered if it was possible to have the same scan done at 16 weeks rather than 20 weeks. So I lay on the bed and my partner sat next to me. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. Hugely upset that to think that the baby was so poorly. I've realised that being a nice person is a luxury some can't afford. 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. 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. 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! And the next day we went back to the hospital and we had another scan with a specialist, and he confirmed it was a condition called holoprosencephaly, which I'd never heard of any of these words before, they were just such long words. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. 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. Many described how sonographers and doctors were very restrained and didn't speak at all until they had analysed all the baby's details. We'll make an appointment with the senior sonographer, the consultant at the local hospital, and she'll do your scan and she'll be able to tell you more things'.
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