Getting through the 20 week scan - My BabyManual But that was too easy. Is it the same scan or is it the same equipment? 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 how wrong could they be? I had to wait for a doctor to explain the situation. So she said, 'Come back on Monday. Two days, after on Christmas Eve, (my 12 week date) I had more blood tests. 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. And, so they sent me home at that stage because they said the specialist wasn't available till the following day, which was awful. I loved him instantly and didn't want to let him go. Others, including those who had been given leaflets to read about the scan beforehand as well as some who were health professionals, said that they had been nave about the 20-week scan. BabyCenter. Others, including those who had been given leaflets to read about the scan beforehand as well as some who were health professionals, said that they had been nave about the 20-week scan. We went in, had a scan, I can't remember the exact sequence of events because the baby was still in the wrong position. In fact, interestingly enough, going sort of. Read full disclaimer. If an abnormality is confirmed or suspected, referral is usually required, although some obvious major fetal abnormalities, such as anencephaly, may not require a second opinion (this should be decided by local guidelines). And even at that early stage it was beginning to sink in that there was something really not right. Despite this new discovery, the sonographer was still concerned. 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. 12/12/2012 22:41. After that I got, I, it was about in, in 19-, hang on a minute, 2001 I got pregnant again, slightly unexpectedly. It sounds crazy, but I just knew. I think what everyone is saying is that most likely outcome is that there are no problems at all. 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. 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. 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. Soon, the doctor came and inserted the tablets that would induce labour. The same anticipation. He felt doing more blood tests would only cause me more discomfort and false hope. At this point it wasn't looking great. Seated in the antenatal clinic with lots of expectant mothers with baby bumps. In the case of a suspected abnormality, women should be seen for a second opinion by an expert in fetal ultrasound, such as a fetal medicine specialist. 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 remained positive, we researched lots of cases of mistaken dates, inconclusive scans, and compared them to our situation; scrutinising everything to try and believe it was all one big misunderstanding. I think I was about 20 weeks cos they, the hospital I think did the 12 and the 20, that was their standard thing and, yeah, so I got the 20 weeks one. How common is it to get bad news at 20 week scan? | Mumsnet How common is it to find anomolies at the 20 week scan? - Netmums She brought up a picture of the heart on the screen. There's nothing wrong, you know, we've had all the tests, everything's fine,' and being very upbeat about it all. I noticed the box of tissues on the table. The sonographer told me to take the notes, and the scan photos with me so they could review them also. chances of bad news at 20 week scan mumsnet. They sort of drew some diagrams, and they said, 'But we need to refer you to a specialist to confirm the diagnosis'. or sort of light chat that we'd, we'd experienced before with previous scans. And they, sort of two of them were looking at the scan machine and then they sort of switched everything off and said, 'Oh, I think we have, might have a problem'. Many people were deeply affected by their experiences of the 20-week and subsequent specialist scans. It was another consultant, who said, "I'm afraid I have some bad news - your baby has Down's syndrome." 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. 13/12/2020 20:45. As I lay down, and the sonographer started, I could see there was something wrong. What are the chances of bad news at the 20 week scan | Mumsnet 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. For many other women, the 18-20 week scan was the point at which they discovered the baby had serious problems. Several parents said they would have preferred being told something, even it was vague. 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. Can you describe the difference between the scan at this later stage in a pregnancy? Laura miscarried her twin babies in February. I think I don't everything just seems a real blur because it was, it was such a strange experience. 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. If you are not sure, you can contact them and ask. All the hopes, dreams, and plans we made with our little bumps has been taken away from us. There is always a chance that a baby may be born with a health issue that scans could not have identified. 'Soft markers'. Three midwives came and went. At that point, I got very not upset but quite sort of strongly severe sort of with the people at the hospital saying, 'Look, you know, that's 24 hours, possibly a 48 hours' wait - that's not something that's tenable. Spina bifida can usually be seen clearly on a scan and of those babies who have this condition, around 9 out of 10 (90%) will be detected. But worse was to come. I'm trying to understand because I haven't seen a 3-D scan, what it tells the parents? He told me that they may want to do blood tests, but that 'he didn't see the point'. It can be such a shock so do whatever you need to feel better. I had to take a tablet there and then, under the supervision of a nurse, to end the pregnancy. I was saving my child from pain and suffering. But before he could speak, he, too, had broken down. 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 left for home feeling completely numb. I travelled to work that day feeling amazing. b>Bad news at 20 week scan. He felt strong and fit and healthy. It was probably all right but hadn't had any fluid in it at the moment. Try to relax and take it easy. That was the first time I had heard him cry. Mm-hm. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. On the next shift, the new midwife asked us again. She describes having to make a . So on the Monday we went in to see the senior sonographer, I think she was a consultant at the hospital. 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. She asked me how far gone I thought we were, and if I could have been mistaken. So he went out for a walk. Except for the persistent, nagging doubts. And with each one we had to have the same conversations. 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. Usually, sonographers will ask a senior sonographer colleague to confirm findings and this should be done immediately. . And I assumed my partner would feel the same. And my partner and I would have a completely different life from the one we'd imagined. Living in this world must be unbearable for them. And it's like, I really wanted to see it and I didn't, and it was it was very mixed. Thankfully I was met by an amazing sonographer, she was compassionate and understanding. And they took me to another room and they explained that the baby had what they thought was ventriculomegaly or something. The pain was bearable but uncomfortable, the hospital rang me a few days later and asked me how I was. I went away and came back, and she couldn't get a good picture. Went off for the 20-week scan, which you didn't, you weren't there, were you, for the first scan? You can change your cookie settings at any time. She endured many agonising rounds of scans and tests, and unfortunately met with some unhelpful attitudes from some healthcare professionals. I mean, you just, you're just overwhelmed, it's so much fun. And I, and, I felt the weight of deciding what to do about it. I was becoming numb to the whole process. Reading individual, real-life experiences can be a helpful resource, but it is never a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment from a qualified health care provider. It was horrible. But everything seemed fine and we'd been sitting waiting to see the consultant, and I'd had an examination on the bed. It was all going wrong and I wanted to get as far away from the hospital as possible. We thought it would all be over very quickly but, in fact, it was another 11 hours before the baby was delivered. 18-20 week scans provide clinicians with more information than earlier scans because by18 weeks a healthy baby should be larger and better developed. It doesn't remove the guilt, but I don't know what else to do. I was experiencing some light bleeding for the past few days. By this time, we were tired. So I took the test and jumped in the shower. But even if I was there, I still think I would have wanted to see the detail on the scan. 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. The hardest thing I have ever done | Health | The Guardian 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. Thick milky discharge at 14 weeks.tmi pic attached. I wasn't ready to make a decision straight away, and I was told I could call them in the morning. I was willing the results to be normal. He looked excited. We've got the same battle scars. [Husband] couldn't make it. The same sense of expectation. We would terminate the pregnancy. We understand the real meaning of "shit happens". It is also sometimes referred to as the mid-pregnancy 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. You've had a scan, you've had the blood tests, you've been good. 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 would be put to sleep, and when I woke up I wouldn't be pregnant any more. The decision to terminate the pregnancy was my partner's and mine. So he was about two weeks smaller than what he should have been. Well send you a link to a feedback form. 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'. I get terribly irritated by my close friends and family. So we gave up and said we'd arrange the funeral ourselves. No sort of questions about, 'Do you want to know whether it's a boy or a girl?' 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. See more information about the 20-week ultrasound scan. So we decided that, to have the scan and we went along I think early in the week for that, and spent quite a lot of time with the consultant after that. The thing about that which I felt was difficult is that we could tell when being scanned that there was something very seriously wrong. 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. 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. 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. I let out an animal scream and [wife] kind of leapt onto me on the bed. After half an hour of lying on the bed, I was starting to get nervous, but was excited to find out that the baby would be a boy and that I could see his little heart beating strongly. My partner spent the weekend trying to convince me that things were OK. 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. 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. She didn't want to see the baby. And you could see, where you should have a picture of 4 chambers, you could really see 2. 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. I was sat on the sofa working, my son was at nursery and my partner was in the bath. But you know I knew we had, we had to make a decision that was right for the baby as well. And she said that, you know, as the, if the baby did develop further there would probably be other problems with internal organs that weren't really that visible at that stage. Bad news at 20 week scan, please help. | Mumsnet We felt as if we were in limbo. Nights were impossible. I didn't have a clue. The midwife was on the verge of tears and I felt responsible. The chances that anything bad will be discovered are v v small. We had so much power, we could decide that this little thing should die. It took 20 minutes to push him out. Chances of bad news at 20 week scan mumsnet It felt like a lifetime to reach our 12-week-scan. There was an extra digit on one of the hands. She didn't say at the time that it was a major problem or that it was something to watch out for. Instead, I had to raise a glass of water to my mouth, take a swig and swallow the tablet. I couldn't have the added responsibility for changing his mind. He looked fine. This is not what I imagined pregnancy to feel like', Baby Loss Awareness Week - Voice Five - Bryony Seabrook. A black and white picture of your baby will then be seen on the ultrasound screen. I thought surely everything is ok, as they couldn't detect twins the week before. At first the closeness came through a sense of guilt. But for those few days they were torture. I hated my body and hated every feeling I was having. So it was quite common, this is what happens. And thank God I did. She advised I be referred to the EPU to be assessed. . Well, at the regional hospital it was a 3-D scan. I had to be rescanned latter. Unfortunately I was not met with a compassionate sonographer. We don't know, but it's not looking good'. My partner's face was lit up, seeing the baby for the first time. 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. The sonographer then passes a hand-held probe over your skin to examine the babys body. How was that scan different from the dating scan? 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]. Those two weeks were agonising for us both. But no. It was sick. The nursery I had selected for our two-year-old son; my maternity leave; the bunk beds; the summer holiday suitable for a newborn baby. A company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales company number 3266897. Did you, how did that scan make you feel? Some people had underestimated how serious any abnormality found at this stage could be for the baby. We scattered his ashes over a bunch of snowdrops. When he came back, he agreed on a termination. And in this instance the scan was very evident that there was something very seriously wrong. Can't seem to find info on the Internet. . You may need to have a full bladder when you come for the appointment. 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. 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. Most scans show that babies seem to be developing as expected, and none of the 11 conditions are found. I returned to be told they wanted to scan me again, another internal to see exactly what was happening. I wanted to be a passive patient while the doctor did what he had 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. I had no idea if we were doing the "right" thing. 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. Good luck has not come easily over the past few years. Some things can be seen more clearly than others. But here I was, minutes later, lying down, waiting. Many parents were shocked by findings from the 20-week and later scans. 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. 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. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. We were convinced everything would be OK. This was on the Friday. So instead, I was advised to go home and let nature take its course. Slightly marked from our peers. Purpose of screening. We walked all the way home. Have I misunderstood what's going on?' And that, that was when things where it started going a bit wrong. I don't know how we got through the next couple of days. My partner went out with him, wanting to see him. 80 percent of my pregnancies have ended in death and I felt like they were telling me those babies didn't matter. Emma was 20 weeks' pregnant when a routine scan revealed that the baby she was expecting had Down's syndrome and heart problems. Any delay in receiving more information about the abnormality and its implications will be distressing for women and this should be acknowledged. The baby kicked, blissfully unaware of what I had done. I've realised that being a nice person is a luxury some can't afford. This might be uncomfortable. Several women had taken young children with them to the 20-week scan because they expected to see 'nice pictures of the baby'. 17/12/2020 17:13. Saturday came. I tried not to sit still for too long, because then I became too aware of the little thing inside me. So it was, there was very, very little movement from the baby because I remembered first time round by that stage, you know, that the baby was quite big and it moved around a lot at a later scan. Originally I hadn't wanted to go down that road. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, "it didn't look good" and that "my womb looked raggedy". So that was it. 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 wrote a few things down last night when we were trying to go over things, just to remind myself. That he was small. So we had to go in and out a couple of times, and we were just waiting around for ages and ages. But it is a soft marker for Edwards' syndrome. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. Just wonder whether anyone had ever been told? They said the brain was okay -, We were in there for a matter of minutes, literally -, In and out. It would have been nice to see someone straight away because I was in such shock. And at the end of the day however much we talked about it - that it was going to be the two of us to make the decision and me to actually you know, go through it and decide that that was what was going to happen for him - and I just, I didn't want to do it. Maybe our son would have overcome his problems, survived his illnesses, led a happy life. Again, we weren't understood. I swallowed the tablet and we left the building. No one else felt him kick. And I couldn't escape the feeling that I was being selfish. 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?' 26/09/2019 22:46.