chances of bad news at 20 week scan mumsnetnesn bruins pregame show hosts

So carried on with the plans, and, you know, planning for the, another baby to come along and then we went for a 20- week scan which is obviously the big one and very exciting, seeing all the arms and legs and once again everything was going fine, 'Look here's the baby, here's the length of baby'. I then had to wait in the room along with many other patients for an hour so they could observe me. We're going to go and see them. 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. 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). Baby loss support In a small number of cases some very serious conditions are found. For example, the babys brain, kidneys, internal organs or bones may not have developed properly. I had to stop myself from yanking out the needle. 80 percent of my pregnancies have ended in death and I felt like they were telling me those babies didn't matter. He looked excited. (See 'Resources'). This might be uncomfortable. There's nothing wrong, you know, we've had all the tests, everything's fine,' and being very upbeat about it all. 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 just feel very unlucky. On January 18, my baby was born, at 23 weeks - a little boy. But he was wrong. He told me that they may want to do blood tests, but that 'he didn't see the point'. 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. Trying to carry on as normal, working and putting on a brave face. Why me and not you, you bastard? I wrote a few things down last night when we were trying to go over things, just to remind myself. I just want to be normal again. 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 we had to go in and out a couple of times, and we were just waiting around for ages and ages. Some parents wondered if it was possible to have the same scan done at 16 weeks rather than 20 weeks. 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. The next day, it was confirmed that my bloods had again dropped. 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. You will be able to discuss this with your midwife or consultant. 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). We couldn't say we'd lost the baby, because he was still kicking away, but we couldn't pretend everything was fine, either. So that was it. And attribute some blame to them. During the examination, sonographers need to keep the screen in a position that gives them a good view of your baby. Last updated July 2017. 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. 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. It was, 'Oh we'll come back to that'. Smiling at myself and picturing me and Sam becoming parents. He had to come to the decision by himself. As two youngest siblings, we were both permanently stuck in the irresponsible, childish role. A few people recalled how frightened and alarmed they became when they sensed that the atmosphere in the scanning room changed in an instant from 'jokey' to serious when the baby's problems were detected. It was just sort of deadpan faces, very serious looks, someone else coming to check. 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. The 18-20 week antenatal scan and further tests. 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. 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. Please ask your hospital about this before your appointment. I ran into the bedroom to tell Sam, who was ecstatic. Likely to have serious medical problems all his life. I think I don't everything just seems a real blur because it was, it was such a strange experience. I couldn't work out what was taking so long and put it down to the doctor being young and inexperienced. I was willing the results to be normal. 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. I used to think the feeling of your baby kicking inside you and the sight of a foot poking against your skin were the most fantastic things in the world. I didn't sleep that night I don't think. 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. But now that's changed. Ending a pregnancy for fetal abnormality - The 18-20 week antenatal There are no known risks to your baby or the mother from having an ultrasound scan but it is important that you consider carefully whether or not to have the 20-week scan. And how wrong could they be? 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. So I trusted him. Sam followed and I broke down. 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. 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. We needed closure, to allow us to grieve properly. As I was called for my scan I was nervous and emotional. Intellectually, I knew this was not the case. Bad news at 20 week scan | Mumsnet The scan looks for 11 different conditions in your baby and cannot find everything that might be wrong. I was experiencing some light bleeding for the past few days. 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 sat and waited to be called for my scan. There is more detailed information about the main conditions that are looked for during this scan on NHS.UK. Life expectancy of 30 or 40. The "why me?" 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'. Has anyone been told the sex incorrectly at their 20 week scan? The hardest thing I have ever done. 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 managed to tell my mum, who said she would come with us to the hospital. Because, when you're angry with the world for dealing you such a shit time, you begin to hate the people who populate it. 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 '. And everybody knows and everything is right. 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. So we left it there, and we didn't actually think that there was anything really to worry about after that scan. (See. Just wonder whether anyone had ever been told? I know I could have delivered him in a quarter of the time, but I couldn't bear the thought of him leaving me. For many other women, the 18-20 week scan was the point at which they discovered the baby had serious problems. The doctor wanted to do another blood test to confirm a significant drop in my hormone levels. I agreed to an internal scan as the sonographer said we could get a better picture of what was happening. 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. DS had 2 soft markers: talipes (club foot) and 'echogenic locii' somewhere - heart I think. But other than that everything was fine. 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 worse was to come. We were told to go to the hospital immediately. Immediately I knew what decision we should take. . 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. My wife turned the screen away from her. So I suppose from that aspect, mind you having not been told that or sitting there, I wouldn't have thought necessarily that was odd. I was then told yet again bad news. 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. I hated my body and hated every feeling I was having. But before he could speak, he, too, had broken down. But that was too easy. As I left the room to compose myself. So it was quite common, this is what happens. Slightly marked from our peers. Many described how sonographers and doctors were very restrained and didn't speak at all until they had analysed all the baby's details. The pain was bearable but uncomfortable, the hospital rang me a few days later and asked me how I was. And it was Christmas Eve and at the time I didn't think, the sonographer did spend a little bit of time scanning us and queried my dates several times and then explained that she couldn't quite see the baby's heart properly and would we come back in a couple of days? It is extremely rare for these pregnancies to reach term as they typically spontaneously miscarry early in pregnancy. We didn't name him. To help us improve GOV.UK, wed like to know more about your visit today. Some of the other conditions, such as heart defects, are more difficult to see. . I thought I was going to burst into tears. You've had, you've had your Down's Syndrome check and that's okay. Somehow, I walked from the sofa up to the bathroom and told my partner. 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. It is also sometimes referred to as the mid-pregnancy scan. Good luck has not come easily over the past few years. It felt as if we had gone power crazy. So she said, 'Come back on Monday. 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. What are the chances of bad news at the 20 week scan | Mumsnet I felt crushed, I wanted him to at least acknowledge what had been found already. So we gave up and said we'd arrange the funeral ourselves. If this happens, you will be offered one further scan by 23 weeks of pregnancy. I thought surely everything is ok, as they couldn't detect twins the week before. The baby kicked, blissfully unaware of what I had done. I mean the lady who was scanning was very quiet for a long time. Seeing your baby on a screen can be really exciting. or sort of light chat that we'd, we'd experienced before with previous scans. 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. This short video explains screening for 11 physical conditions in pregnancy. And I can just remember flashing a look at you as if to say, 'Have I made a mistake here somewhere? 18-20 week scans provide clinicians with more information than earlier scans because by18 weeks a healthy baby should be larger and better developed. I didn't think my instincts were worth much. 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. This image shows a baby's face and hands at 20 weeks, and gives you an idea of what you'll be able to see at this scan. Has anyone been told the wrong sex at 20 week scan? Some people we talked to had not had a 18-20-week scan, either because their babies' abnormalities had been detected by earlier . So and you could see the exomphalus, this little pouch, which was obviously just the intestines where they are. Let a mum know you're thinking of them send one of our personalised Mother's Day cards today, Home 20-week ultrasound (anomaly scan) - BabyCenter Australia This article was amended on 24 November 2015 to anonymise the writer. Public Health England (PHE) created this information on behalf of the NHS. The blood test confirmed it was twins. It's been a heartbreaking nightmare. And my partner and I would have a completely different life from the one we'd imagined. At this point it wasn't looking great. So we went home, me to rest in an attempt to prevent miscarriage, my partner to reassure us both. The same unique expression he had when he saw our two year old born. There was complete silence during the scan. 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 . 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. Except for the persistent, nagging doubts. The doctor gave her consent, and I took the four little tablets. 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. Christmas came and went in a blur of emotion, it felt so wrong to be celebrating when we were in such turmoil. 15/02/2014 08:02. The milk came and stayed for what seemed like for ever. He's now had the all clear and is wriggling round on . But the consultant had found more spots on the heart and the measurements were the same. Sometimes specialist scans such as 3D scans, or MRI scans, are used to examine the baby in greater detail. Scans cannot find all conditions. When he came back, he agreed on a termination. He then told us what the prognosis would mean for the child. I was saving my child from pain and suffering. By the time I left the hospital, I was in shock. It would have been nice to see someone straight away because I was in such shock. You may like someone to come with you to the scan appointment. b>Bad news at 20 week scan. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor, midwife or hospital immediately. Perhaps because we are alone in this, it has brought my partner and me very close. We were convinced everything would be OK. You've had a scan, you've had the blood tests, you've been good. And I'm glad I did and she's glad she didn't. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, 'it didn't look good' and that 'my womb looked raggedy'. Read full disclaimer. Usually, sonographers will ask a senior sonographer colleague to confirm findings and this should be done immediately. We must have had one before that as well, we must have had one before that, but it came back quite normal. Many parents were shocked by findings from the 20-week and later scans. Tissue paper will be tucked around your clothing to protect it from the ultrasound gel, which will then be put on your tummy. You're in and out and that was it. Went back a week later for the scan and, you were with me for this one, weren't you? We strongly advise readers not to take drugs that are not prescribed by your qualified healthcare provider. Sam reassured me, but the guilt had hit me along with the feeling that our world was falling apart. That they could have spotted something, or not? No one else felt him kick. 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. Our position in our families has shifted. And so began the most bizarre day of my life. If you choose not to have the scan you can still have all other parts of your routine antenatal care. Maybe. Please note that the opinions expressed by users in Tommys Book of #misCOURAGE are solely those of the user, who is unlikely to have had medical training. The hardest thing I have ever done | Health | The Guardian And shortly after that, that scan we'd finished and the consultant leant back and said, 'I'm afraid we have some problems here'. I couldn't bear to see the baby and asked the midwife to take him away immediately. I had to wait yet another sleepless night. You've had your, you know, you've had your triple test and everything was fine. 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. I felt sad, but not the complete devastation of the last scan as they had seen a change of some sort. We had amnio and then spent a week in absoute anguish waiting for the outcome which was no trisomies. 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. Went off for the 20-week scan, which you didn't, you weren't there, were you, for the first scan? Never being able to look after himself. Specialist scans It doesn't remove the guilt, but I don't know what else to do. 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. For five months my body had known there was something wrong, yet I had felt fantastic. Registered office: Nicholas House, 3 Laurence Pountney Hill, London, EC4R 0BB. It is a noise that will stay with me for ever. There, I would give birth. Can you describe the difference between the scan at this later stage in a pregnancy? 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'. 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? We were denying him his life. BabyCenter. It feels very lonely and isolating. Having the scan does not hurt but the sonographer may need to apply slight pressure to get the best views of your baby. And I'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'. Fine, go on my own. Thick milky discharge at 14 weeks.tmi pic attached. 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 just couldn't use the words. She asked me how far gone I thought we were, and if I could have been mistaken. Picture every packed football staduim up and down the country - all healthy pregnancies and births. Your mind has closed to the possibility that there could be anything wrong. It was horrible. We talked about the different sorts of pain relief I could have and I opted for a morphine drip, which I could control. 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. An appointment should be arranged as soon as possible and ideally within three working days. Previous scans in this pregnancy and with my first child had been fun - a chance to see the baby wriggling around and perhaps find out its sex. And I am slowly coming to terms with what has happened. The first words I said were: "If there's anything wrong then it's my fault", I had been working 70, nearly 80 hours the previous weeks and pushed myself hard. It felt as if we'd gone underground, that we were part of the criminal fraternity. And she sort of got up and walked out of the room and called someone in. 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. But you know I knew we had, we had to make a decision that was right for the baby as well. And I assumed my partner would feel the same. So on the Monday we went in to see the senior sonographer, I think she was a consultant at the hospital. 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. I tried to show him the notes and the photos. Some people had underestimated how serious any abnormality found at this stage could be for the baby. We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services. If you are not sure, you can contact them and ask. These opinions do not represent the opinions of Tommys and are not advice from Tommy's. And my husband, we never got to sit next to each other in the consulting room, my husband was across the room from me, and I was sat next to the consultant, and we were laughing and joking with him about, you know, the home delivery, and everything was going to be, 'Are you still on for the home delivery?' 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? When I told him what had happened, he refused to believe anything was wrong and said he'd sort it out when he came home. They sort of drew some diagrams, and they said, 'But we need to refer you to a specialist to confirm the diagnosis'. 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. Well, at the regional hospital it was a 3-D scan. We're still not at the end of our journey, but we're much further along. Some stories I hear are amazing! As though I went power mad for a week, killing my innocent unborn child, and now I am tainted for ever. Many people were deeply affected by their experiences of the 20-week and subsequent specialist scans. You have accepted additional cookies. 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. There was a very marked lack of amniotic fluid which made it difficult, not even for the scanners to see, that made the picture of the scan look very, very different. The gel makes sure there is good contact between the probe and your skin. You get extra care and monitoring as appropriate and baby is proactively treated. Instinctively, did it feel right? So that just left the talipes. However, at the time neither of us could articulate that. She endured many agonising rounds of scans and tests, and unfortunately met with some unhelpful attitudes from some healthcare professionals. Next most likely (but actually in the minority) they identify something which whilst not 100% healthy is treatable.

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