Did you, how did that scan make you feel? 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. Which is what I'd seen. For many other women, the 18-20 week scan was the point at which they discovered the baby had serious problems. And they took me to another room and they explained that the baby had what they thought was ventriculomegaly or something. But that was too easy. And nothing prepares you at all. I can't remember the exact words but she said, 'There might be some fatal problems with your baby'. So had to come back in a week's time for a scan, which again is quite a common thing I found out. The ultimate betrayal. 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'. Went off for the 20-week scan, which you didn't, you weren't there, were you, for the first scan? I had to stop myself from yanking out the needle. But the consultant had found more spots on the heart and the measurements were the same. He had to come to the decision by himself. 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. It was far too much power; neither of us wanted it. 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. We use some essential cookies to make this website work. So we gave up and said we'd arrange the funeral ourselves. Thick milky discharge at 14 weeks.tmi pic attached. 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? 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. And at that, I let out a scream I think. You can change your cookie settings at any time. 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. Our week-by-week PREGNANCY emails are a must for parents-to-be. An hour passed and I started to panic. As I say, I'm not a very nice person at the moment. . 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. Laura miscarried her twin babies in February. I have horrible thoughts. I had to wait for a doctor to explain the situation. 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. But now that's changed. I know I could have delivered him in a quarter of the time, but I couldn't bear the thought of him leaving me. 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. This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/screening-tests-for-you-and-your-baby/11-physical-conditions-20-week-scan. He then told us what the prognosis would mean for the child. What were babys measurements at 20 week scan? This is not what I imagined pregnancy to feel like', Baby Loss Awareness Week - Voice Five - Bryony Seabrook. Picture every packed football staduim up and down the country - all healthy pregnancies and births. And I, and, I felt the weight of deciding what to do about it. If one of the conditions is found or suspected, the sonographer may ask for a second opinion from another member of staff. You have rejected additional cookies. But everything seemed fine and we'd been sitting waiting to see the consultant, and I'd had an examination on the bed. But my brain had been given a train of thought that was impossible to stop. 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.
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. . But on, in the middle of March, 10th March it was, we had a 20 week scan. No discussion, no quiet contemplation. Dont include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details. 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. The "why me?" . 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 '. I would be put to sleep, and when I woke up I wouldn't be pregnant any more. And attribute some blame to them. Just that really! We left for home feeling completely numb. Anyway we went in for the meeting with the consultant on this particular time, and we'd got to, I was 30 weeks pregnant by then. The sonographer told me to take the notes, and the scan photos with me so they could review them also. 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. Have I misunderstood what's going on?' It was exactly like the labour I had with my first child. For example, you may be offered further tests that have a risk of miscarriage. Emma was 20 weeks' pregnant when a routine scan revealed that the baby she was expecting had Down's syndrome and heart problems. 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 was sick. That he was small. I went home feeling crushed; Sam and I both felt helpless. 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). . 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. My partner watched the baby come out, and for a split second I saw a look of joy on his face. It sounds crazy, but I just knew. Please ask your hospital about this before your appointment. And, so they sent me home at that stage because they said the specialist wasn't available till the following day, which was awful. After she had taken all the measurements, the sonographer told us that she was concerned with the length of the baby's limbs in relation to the head. 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. All the time, the baby was kicking and I felt like a murderer waiting to strike her victim. 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. It can be such a shock so do whatever you need to feel better. It was a bit worrying but on the plus side I got an extra couple of scans and an extra couple of pictures. The doctor explained the options I had to manage my miscarriage. Originally I hadn't wanted to go down that road. At first, I still had to deal with the physical implications of having given birth. 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. I wasn't unduly worried at all. I know it is still early days. He felt strong and fit and healthy. Yeah, yeah. Well send you a link to a feedback form. But I was struggling mentally with the anguish, grief and endless hospital visits. Some people had underestimated how serious any abnormality found at this stage could be for the baby. I felt the dread run through me. Likely to have serious medical problems all his life. 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? This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. It felt like a lifetime to reach our 12-week-scan. And they took me into another room. I mean the lady who was scanning was very quiet for a long time. I went away and came back, and she couldn't get a good picture. 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. Sometimes specialist scans such as 3D scans, or MRI scans, are used to examine the baby in greater detail. But other than that everything was fine. 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's been a heartbreaking nightmare. ABDOMINAL CIRCUMFERENCE MEASUREMENT AT 20 WEEK SCAN. 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. This scan takes place between 18 weeks and 20 weeks 6 days of pregnancy and is commonly called the 20-week scan. As two youngest siblings, we were both permanently stuck in the irresponsible, childish role. Then, three days later, I would go to the labour ward - the ward I had been expecting to visit in two and a half months. On the third day, we got a phone call. 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.'. We bought little outfits, teddies, and researched all the vitamins and foods that I could eat. And I went for, I went for a normal 12-week scan, at my local hospital and everything, they said everything was fine, there was no problem. 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. In this information, the word we refers to the NHS service that provides screening. 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. I wasn't ready to make a decision straight away, and I was told I could call them in the morning. Forcing my hand to my mouth to take the tablet was probably the hardest thing I have ever done. It felt as if we had gone power crazy. Like many things, the theory is very different from the reality. We strongly advise readers not to take drugs that are not prescribed by your qualified healthcare provider. 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. The screen may be directly facing them or at an angle. Within it are a number of recommendations for the communication of findings from ultrasounds. Emma was 20 weeks' pregnant when a routine scan revealed that the baby she was expecting had Down's syndrome and heart problems. Having the scan does not hurt but the sonographer may need to apply slight pressure to get the best views of your baby. And it's like, I really wanted to see it and I didn't, and it was it was very mixed. 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. And it's, I can't remember exactly what it was now, it's about where the brain is supposed to form. So he went out for a walk. 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 still feel guilty, I still cry at random times. 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. SO much upset and needless angst has been caused by 'soft markers' found at scans. The hormone levels had dropped, but they wanted to scan me again. Went back a week later for the scan and, you were with me for this one, weren't you? If necessary, you will be referred to a specialist, possibly in another hospital. The contractions started very quickly and within an hour my waters had broken. I think what everyone is saying is that most likely outcome is that there are no problems at all. Could she possibly have something that's not been detected? We scattered his ashes over a bunch of snowdrops. How common is it for 2nd baby to come early..? I want to be happy again. I couldn't bring myself to push. What would we like to do with the body? I hadn't thought about the mechanics of such a late termination, but had assumed it would mean some kind of operation. I had my little leaflet, printed off leaflet about choroid plexus cysts. It felt like a lifetime to reach our 12-week-scan. No one else felt him kick. It was probably all right but hadn't had any fluid in it at the moment. 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'. Any delay in receiving more information about the abnormality and its implications will be distressing for women and this should be acknowledged. You could see her face, and the major aspect that was, that was the indication of what was wrong was the thickening at the back of the neck in this instance, which, when you're looking at a fetus is, you know, sort of half a centimetre thicker or not is completely immaterial to me, and would look like a completely normal neck, but from the point of view of the consultant was severely abnormal. 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. Back on the EPU unit, a doctor organised for me to be admitted into the ward, to take the medical management under supervision as the sac was now to big for me to safely miscarry on my own at home. 10/03/2021 16:13, @Cormoransjacket Scans cannot find all conditions. Perhaps because we are alone in this, it has brought my partner and me very close. And even at that early stage it was beginning to sink in that there was something really not right. It was, 'Oh we'll come back to that'. See you in -. So he was about two weeks smaller than what he should have been. 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'. 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 had a horrible feeling of relief. Somehow, I walked from the sofa up to the bathroom and told my partner. We were denying him his life. In fact, interestingly enough, going sort of. As I lay down, and the sonographer started, I could see there was something wrong. And so began the most bizarre day of my life. We just couldn't use the words. 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. The same rush of excitement. I couldn't really believe what they were saying. The sonographer then passes a hand-held probe over your skin to examine the babys body. In a small number of cases some very serious conditions are found. 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. 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. So we hid in our house.
Bad news at 20 week scan, please help. | Mumsnet And so we talked about it euphemistically, never saying the word "research". I was becoming numb to the whole process. The scan was inconclusive, but the size of my little bump was measuring a lot smaller than it should have for 10 weeks. I felt crushed, I wanted him to at least acknowledge what had been found already. Most scans show that babies seem to be developing as expected, and none of the 11 conditions are found. I was becoming numb to the whole process. I faced another internal scan where I began to feel helpless and alone. Can you describe the difference between the scan at this later stage in a pregnancy? I am a darker, harder version of myself. The baby kicked, blissfully unaware of what I had done. I sat and waited to be called for my scan. 18-20 week scans provide clinicians with more information than earlier scans because by18 weeks a healthy baby should be larger and better developed. My partner was away working and was waiting to hear whether he was having a son or daughter.
If you are not sure, you can contact them and ask. Never lacking a sense of the dramatic, it felt as if we shared the responsibility for the terrible, dirty act that we had committed. After preparing myself to face having to take the medication. However, at the time neither of us could articulate that. But before he could speak, he, too, had broken down. We must have had one before that as well, we must have had one before that, but it came back quite normal. Baby loss support But with time although we will never forget, I know we will be ok again. You do not have to have the scan. Good luck has not come easily over the past few years. We were bound to each other because of the blood that was on both our hands. It seemed inconceivable that we would not be having a baby in May. Parents get a chance to emotionally adapt to news and plan. Possibly with hindsight we could have been more worried about it, but was probably a good thing we weren't, because we weren't worried about anything basically. This one cannot show you anything, that's what's inside your mind. But they didn't. The week that followed was an agonising wait. chances of bad news at 20 week scan mumsnet. I hated my body and hated every feeling I was having. 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 travelled to work that day feeling amazing. I'm trying to understand because I haven't seen a 3-D scan, what it tells the parents? So we had to go in and out a couple of times, and we were just waiting around for ages and ages. I broke down and started hitting my disgusting body that had done this. 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. I couldn't bear to see the baby and asked the midwife to take him away immediately. Your mind has closed to the possibility that there could be anything wrong. Let a mum know you're thinking of them send one of our personalised Mother's Day cards today, Home Later, I did see and hold our baby. 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! 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.
We left the hospital a couple of hours later. I had to wait yet another sleepless night. And everybody knows and everything is right. 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'. Nights were impossible. Why me and not you, you bastard? Many parents were shocked by findings from the 20-week and later scans. We felt as if we were in limbo. I tried to keep positive. See more information about the 20-week ultrasound scan. This was on the Friday.
How common is it to find anomolies at the 20 week scan? - Netmums You get extra care and monitoring as appropriate and baby is proactively treated. Well, at the regional hospital it was a 3-D scan. The thing about that which I felt was difficult is that we could tell when being scanned that there was something very seriously wrong. And, it does not occur to you in the slightest. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk. This was a ray of hope for us. I endured 12 hours of medication and in the early hours February 7, 56 days after my first scan (at nearly 18 weeks), I miscarried our babies. And 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. Our position in our families has shifted. It was another consultant, who said, "I'm afraid I have some bad news - your baby has Down's syndrome." Next most likely (but actually in the minority) they identify something which whilst not 100% healthy is treatable. 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. And in this instance the scan was very evident that there was something very seriously wrong. Thanks girls, it's amazing how protected our babies are in there isn't it?! (See 'Resources'). I was young, I didn't need one.
Tommys is a registered charity in England and Wales (1060508) and Scotland (SC039280). And the first few things they said it didn't sound as thing, as though things were terribly wrong. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. But no. It was the end of January, very end - about the 29th - I'd gone into, I'd gone into 5 months by then. Entering the labour ward, I waited for someone to say, "Go home, you are 16 weeks too early." The chances that anything bad will be discovered are v v small. Not a good sign in a hospital consulting room. 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. We were convinced everything would be OK. Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. The consultant showed us the letter with our result on and, yes, there were the words "Down's syndrome". I thought I was going to burst into tears. Yeah - in, stomach, out. Many described how sonographers and doctors were very restrained and didn't speak at all until they had analysed all the baby's details. Wishing to be anywhere, but here being told the same agonising truth over and over again. So at least then we went to that next stage prepared for the worst really. Several women had taken young children with them to the 20-week scan because they expected to see 'nice pictures of the baby'. 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?' Abortion has never raised any moral dilemmas for me and I am an atheist, so there are no religious issues. I just feel very unlucky. Try to relax and take it easy. Not surprisingly, people aren't quite sure how to deal with me. 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. It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. 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). There was cause for concern. The midwife was on the verge of tears and I felt responsible. Those two weeks were agonising for us both. During the examination, sonographers need to keep the screen in a position that gives them a good view of your baby. 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.
11 physical conditions (20-week scan) - GOV.UK He was tiny, perfect and a Down's syndrome baby. Slightly marked from our peers. 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. 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. It was real. Hugely upset that to think that the baby was so poorly. We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services. You will then be asked to raise your top to your chest and lower your skirt or trousers to your hips. Thinking back, I don't know how we left without him. You've had your, you know, you've had your triple test and everything was fine. Dont worry we wont send you spam or share your email address with anyone.