chances of bad news at 20 week scan mumsnet

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. 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 I, and, I felt the weight of deciding what to do about it. But I was struggling mentally with the anguish, grief and endless hospital visits. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. I felt the dread run through me. But that was too easy. 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. It's part of our family. And even at that early stage it was beginning to sink in that there was something really not right. The screen may be directly facing them or at an angle. Entering the labour ward, I waited for someone to say, "Go home, you are 16 weeks too early." Fine, go on my own. This was on the Friday. And attribute some blame to them. But before he could speak, he, too, had broken down. I hadn't thought about the mechanics of such a late termination, but had assumed it would mean some kind of operation. The contractions started very quickly and within an hour my waters had broken. You will then be asked to raise your top to your chest and lower your skirt or trousers to your hips. Not marginalised into being a victim. But for those few days they were torture. The scan can provide information that may mean you have to make further, important decisions. It is impossible to escape them and each one underlines your loss. 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. It was sick. Emma was 20 weeks' pregnant when a routine scan revealed that the baby she was expecting had Down's syndrome and heart problems. And that, that was when things where it started going a bit wrong. But she told us, she told us, she gave us some more detail, she said, 'There's this, there's a big gap in the brain where there shouldn't be'. Specialist scans You have rejected additional cookies. But he was not sure. What happens at the second midwife appointment? Rather sharply, my partner tried to explain. I then found that soft markers means 'vague unproven suggestion of a link', and that echogenic locii are small concentrations of calcium which are incredibly common and harmless. If this happens, you will be offered one further scan by 23 weeks of pregnancy. Most scans are carried out by specially trained staff called sonographers. I believed at this point I had miscarried, they wanted me to come back I'm for a follow up scan. It was far too much power; neither of us wanted it. The consultant had said it wouldn't be like a normal delivery. And I couldn't escape the feeling that I was being selfish. While some parents understood the clinician's restraint - even when they had to wait an hour or more for a definite diagnosis - others disliked being kept in suspense and wanted to be told what the clinician was thinking. factor is very strong. So I sort of went home quite, fairly kind of happy and I, at, at this point I hadn't any idea things could go wrong anyway. I had an appointment with my consultant 2 days later, and again he said, you know, 'Very common - shouldn't worry about it too much, you know, if, the problem is if they find anything else wrong'. So we hid in our house. 10/03/2021 16:13, @Cormoransjacket So obviously quite relaxed. 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 . Wishing to be anywhere, but here being told the same agonising truth over and over again. He had to come to the decision by himself. You have accepted additional cookies. I had to take a tablet there and then, under the supervision of a nurse, to end the pregnancy. 26/09/2019 22:46. My belly was growing and I was feeling great. I had a horrible feeling of relief. Some of the other conditions, such as heart defects, are more difficult to see. And thank God I did. On January 18, my baby was born, at 23 weeks - a little boy. We spent the next few weeks in a happy bubble. I didn't want to be convincing him to agree with me. We felt as if we were in limbo. You may need to have a full bladder when you come for the appointment. She brought up a picture of the heart on the screen. You get extra care and monitoring as appropriate and baby is proactively treated. I was disgusted - disgusted that such a tablet existed, let alone that I should have to take it. We scattered his ashes over a bunch of snowdrops. 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. 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'. I didn't sleep that night I don't think. 1. I want to be happy again. Mm-hm. I faced another internal scan where I began to feel helpless and alone. I wanted to let nature take its course. These were said to be soft markers fo a range of trisomies, 2 of which were incompatible with life. Originally I hadn't wanted to go down that road. But it was very evident. Seeing your baby on a screen can be really exciting. It felt like a lifetime to reach our 12-week-scan. I was then told yet again bad news. 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. So on the Monday we went in to see the senior sonographer, I think she was a consultant at the hospital. My heart goes out to you OP. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, 'it didn't look good' and that 'my womb looked raggedy'. 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. Some people had underestimated how serious any abnormality found at this stage could be for the baby. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Several women had taken young children with them to the 20-week scan because they expected to see 'nice pictures of the baby'. Sometimes a post mortem was needed to confirm the 20-week diagnosis to see if the baby had inherited a genetic problem (such as Fowler syndrome - see '. It can be such a shock so do whatever you need to feel better. Registered office: Nicholas House, 3 Laurence Pountney Hill, London, EC4R 0BB. He looked excited. Except for the persistent, nagging doubts. He was sure the consultant on Monday would see that the measurements were completely normal and that there was nothing to worry about. You may like someone to come with you to the scan appointment. An appointment should be arranged as soon as possible and ideally within three working days. And with each one we had to have the same conversations. I managed to tell my mum, who said she would come with us to the hospital. Public Health England (PHE) created this information on behalf of the NHS. So I was, they couldn't actually finish the scan then, the baby was moving around too much, so they couldn't scan the heart and the stomach. We were told to go to the hospital immediately. And, faced with feeling sorry for myself or feeling sorry for my child, I know which I'd choose. He's now had the all clear and is wriggling round on . And everybody knows and everything is right. I was sat on the sofa working, my son was at nursery and my partner was in the bath. Away you go'. And I am slowly coming to terms with what has happened. 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. The doctor or midwife looking after you will let you know before you come. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. 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. I tried to keep positive. And I'm glad I did and she's glad she didn't. We had the 20 week scan yesterday and got some devastating news. Somehow, I walked from the sofa up to the bathroom and told my partner. 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'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]. b>Bad news at 20 week scan. In some cases concerns in utero fix themselves sometimes needs treatment. I was young, I didn't need one. 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. And I can just remember flashing a look at you as if to say, 'Have I made a mistake here somewhere? Could you tell? Dont worry we wont send you spam or share your email address with anyone. 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. I didn't want to go through anymore scans. Yeah, yeah. 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 am a darker, harder version of myself. Instead, I had to raise a glass of water to my mouth, take a swig and swallow the tablet. I was wondering if anyone has been is this situation and can give me a glimmer of hope. This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/screening-tests-for-you-and-your-baby/11-physical-conditions-20-week-scan. But they didn't. It is extremely rare for these pregnancies to reach term as they typically spontaneously miscarry early in pregnancy. A long process of blood tests, scans, doctors and hospitals. We were denying him his life. I think I don't everything just seems a real blur because it was, it was such a strange experience. This one cannot show you anything, that's what's inside your mind. 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. 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. Nights were impossible. The next day, it was confirmed that my bloods had again dropped. We bought little outfits, teddies, and researched all the vitamins and foods that I could eat. I can feel my child kick, it responds when he shouts at football - I mean literally, this baby used to dance around whenever he'd like scream at a goal - and there cannot be anything wrong with this child because it's part of us already. or sort of light chat that we'd, we'd experienced before with previous scans. She asked me how far gone I thought we were, and if I could have been mistaken. For five months my body had known there was something wrong, yet I had felt fantastic. Thick milky discharge at 14 weeks.tmi pic attached. This short video explains screening for 11 physical conditions in pregnancy. Our nightmare began when I went for my 20-week scan. BabyCenter. My son's congenital heart defect was detected at the 20 week scan and he had 2 other markers, no . If you choose not to have the scan you can still have all other parts of your routine antenatal care. Finally, Monday came and we went back to the hospital. The weeks since that day have been very weird. We bought a two tests that evening (quite lucky as I messed the first one up!). Well send you a link to a feedback form. It was exactly like the labour I had with my first child. Sometimes specialist scans such as 3D scans, or MRI scans, are used to examine the baby in greater detail. My wife turned the screen away from her. And that was extraordinary to see the detail that that could offer. There was complete silence during the scan. And I felt like a murderer. 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. In this information, the word we refers to the NHS service that provides screening. We thought it would all be over very quickly but, in fact, it was another 11 hours before the baby was delivered. 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. And, for a few hours, I'm convinced I've made a terrible mistake. No one else felt him kick. 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. This scan takes place between 18 weeks and 20 weeks 6 days of pregnancy and is commonly called the 20-week scan. You might be offered another test to find out for certain if your baby has one of the conditions. Apologise for somehow doubting their right to be in this world. Surely he couldn't have missed anything else that is so serious x. And I can, the words that the scanning member of staff used, "Everything's fine", will stay with me forever. It was the end of January, very end - about the 29th - I'd gone into, I'd gone into 5 months by then. 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? When I see a child with Down's syndrome, I have a tremendous need to explain myself and apologise a million times over. 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. Never being able to look after himself. 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. The midwife was on the verge of tears and I felt responsible. It is also sometimes referred to as the mid-pregnancy scan . The scan will look in detail at your babys bones, heart, brain, spinal cord, face, kidneys and abdomen. . In some very serious rare cases, where no treatment is possible, the baby will die soon after it is born or during pregnancy. It felt as if we'd gone underground, that we were part of the criminal fraternity. Our baby was beautiful. We were bound to each other because of the blood that was on both our hands. Is it the same scan or is it the same equipment? I couldn't bring myself to push. We left the hospital a couple of hours later. 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. 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. There was cause for concern. Within two days I was waiting in my local EPU unit for further tests. hi ladies. They said the brain was okay -, We were in there for a matter of minutes, literally -, In and out. I think the whole experience has made me a pretty nasty person. And that was Monday afternoon. But on, in the middle of March, 10th March it was, we had a 20 week scan. Which she reassured us that she'd be absolutely fine, this was a one-off. Picture every packed football staduim up and down the country - all healthy pregnancies and births. I don't know how we got through the next couple of days. This was a ray of hope for us. She describes having to make a momentous decision very quickly, and the ferment of relief, guilt and grief that followed, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. I was another one who did get bad news at the 20 week scan. It is as though our pain means we've earned the right to be taken more seriously. In a small number of cases some very serious conditions are found. And then, so I went to my next scan, which was the 20-week abnormality scan, and we took our first child with us, I think he was 17 months old at the time. 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 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. 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. 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. 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. We were convinced everything would be OK. You know there's always that bit on the bottom of the thing, 'These are diagnostics, do not bring other children,' - blah, blah, blah.. it's not, you know, it's not a family outing kind of thing, but it feels like it. But other than that everything was fine. Seated in the antenatal clinic with lots of expectant mothers with baby bumps. And so this one can't tell you anything, it's pictures, you're going, you're going to see your baby, you're going to get pictures. I had to be rescanned latter. So she said, 'Come back on Monday. Wishing to be anywhere, but here being told the same agonising truth over and . Maybe. And at that, I let out a scream I think. No, we really didn't, with hindsight we probably should have, but not at all, it never occurred to us to be worried about it. I had to wait for a doctor to explain the situation. She endured many agonising rounds of scans and tests, and unfortunately met with some unhelpful attitudes from some healthcare professionals. Being deeply unhappy and kind to others at the same time is nigh on impossible. For example, the babys brain, kidneys, internal organs or bones may not have developed properly. I know it is still early days. I mean, you just, you're just overwhelmed, it's so much fun. unfortunately the 20 week anomaly scan can pick up serious issues, hearing heart beats at midwife appointment doesn't let us know what's going on inside the body in detail. 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. Enough for two weeks after he had been cremated. So I lay on the bed and my partner sat next to me. I wasn't ready to make a decision straight away, and I was told I could call them in the morning. Did you, how did that scan make you feel? Can you describe the difference between the scan at this later stage in a pregnancy? The termination would be averting a tragedy. Many people were deeply affected by their experiences of the 20-week and subsequent specialist scans. And they took me to another room and they explained that the baby had what they thought was ventriculomegaly or something. Scans cannot find all conditions. No one else ever met the object of my grief. 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 have a terrible hatred of pregnant women and a new respect for infertile couples. I had to wait yet another sleepless night. I guess the morphine made it easier. So we went home, me to rest in an attempt to prevent miscarriage, my partner to reassure us both. However, a few hours later there was another shift change. Some stories I hear are amazing! Sometimes a post mortem was needed to confirm the 20-week diagnosis to see if the baby had inherited a genetic problem (such as Fowler syndrome - see 'Resources'). And I knew there was no way out. No sort of questions about, 'Do you want to know whether it's a boy or a girl?' And the first few things they said it didn't sound as thing, as though things were terribly wrong. But I still didn't want to be the one who stopped this baby's chance to live. Our position in our families has shifted. There's nothing wrong, you know, we've had all the tests, everything's fine,' and being very upbeat about it all. Try to relax and take it easy. 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. To help us improve GOV.UK, wed like to know more about your visit today. Never lacking a sense of the dramatic, it felt as if we shared the responsibility for the terrible, dirty act that we had committed. As soon as we arrived, we were shown to this little room. 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. This is not what I imagined pregnancy to feel like', Baby Loss Awareness Week - Voice Five - Bryony Seabrook. On the third day, we got a phone call. I let out an animal scream and [wife] kind of leapt onto me on the bed. I just want to be normal again.