chances of bad news at 20 week scan mumsnet

I pray it's just her heart but I can't see anything else is wrong as I have been scanned by a consultant since I was 14 weeks and every time he has said everything looks okay and she is growing consistently. This does not mean there is anything to worry about. I wrote a few things down last night when we were trying to go over things, just to remind myself. Several parents said they would have preferred being told something, even it was vague. At first, I still had to deal with the physical implications of having given birth. Our week-by-week PREGNANCY emails are a must for parents-to-be. I could hardly breathe. I noticed the box of tissues on the table. hi ladies. Fine, go on my own. I want to enjoy my son again, without any reservations. My partner watched the baby come out, and for a split second I saw a look of joy on his face. We strongly advise readers not to take drugs that are not prescribed by your qualified healthcare provider. Soon, the doctor came and inserted the tablets that would induce labour. So I took the test and jumped in the shower. 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. Many parents were shocked by findings from the 20-week and later scans. I know its hard- but i really wouldnt worry about it too much as the worry will stress you and your body out. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. I've been incredibly lucky to have such amazing support from Sam, my mum, and close friends and family. A company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales company number 3266897. 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. And that was Monday afternoon. 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. 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. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. The consultant explained that this was just very bad luck and not, as far as they knew, genetic. The weeks since that day have been very weird. Well send you a link to a feedback form. All the time, the baby was kicking and I felt like a murderer waiting to strike her victim. Which is what I'd seen. See more information about the 20-week ultrasound scan. I tried not to sit still for too long, because then I became too aware of the little thing inside me. And of course some other measurements she needed to take like the width of the skull, which she couldn't take because the fetus was in the wrong position. And 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. 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. He looked fine. The contractions started very quickly and within an hour my waters had broken. And still we asked to see a, Impact of the 20-week and later specialist scans. And shortly after that, that scan we'd finished and the consultant leant back and said, 'I'm afraid we have some problems here'. It felt as if we'd gone underground, that we were part of the criminal fraternity. If this happens, you will be offered one further scan by 23 weeks of pregnancy. The consultant showed us the letter with our result on and, yes, there were the words "Down's syndrome". 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. So we had to go in and out a couple of times, and we were just waiting around for ages and ages. And for that whole time, my partner and I were both crying uncontrollably. We saw the consultant, who was reassuring, saying that he would rescan me and was sure everything would be fine. Having the scan does not hurt but the sonographer may need to apply slight pressure to get the best views of your baby. The same unique expression he had when he saw our two year old born. And with each one we had to have the same conversations. 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. . In some very serious rare cases, where no treatment is possible, the baby will die soon after it is born or during pregnancy. 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. 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. We had the baby cremated. Some people had underestimated how serious any abnormality found at this stage could be for the baby. 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. My belly was growing and I was feeling great. And at that, I let out a scream I think. Within it are a number of recommendations for the communication of findings from ultrasounds. 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. 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. I think they perhaps could have done, if they had looked a bit closely. And even at that early stage it was beginning to sink in that there was something really not right. 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. Our baby was beautiful. She advised I be referred to the EPU to be assessed. No discussion, no quiet contemplation. What happens at the second midwife appointment? We would terminate the pregnancy. Which she reassured us that she'd be absolutely fine, this was a one-off. 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. Laura miscarried her twin babies in February. How common is it to find anomolies at the 20 week scan? - Netmums 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. There was an extra digit on one of the hands. 15/02/2014 08:02. But before he could speak, he, too, had broken down. The pain was bearable but uncomfortable, the hospital rang me a few days later and asked me how I was. 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 wasn't measuring at all the right measurements for the age - there was a heart defect, the limbs were sort of distorted, the arms were, you know - you could see that the arms were very sort of contracted, the hands were contracted. And 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. There was cause for concern. I would be put to sleep, and when I woke up I wouldn't be pregnant any more. Trying to carry on as normal, working and putting on a brave face. And so we talked about it euphemistically, never saying the word "research". And I'm glad I did and she's glad she didn't. 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'. The baby was very, very small. 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. 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. 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 was becoming numb to the whole process. So, in the end, we said we would arrange our own funeral. I didn't want to be convincing him to agree with me. Because, when you're angry with the world for dealing you such a shit time, you begin to hate the people who populate it. We felt as if we were in limbo. Life expectancy of 30 or 40. So instead, I was advised to go home and let nature take its course. That was the first time I had heard him cry. 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 have horrible thoughts. [Husband] couldn't make it. I had no idea if we were doing the "right" thing. No one else attended and we didn't have a service. Never being able to look after himself. Being deeply unhappy and kind to others at the same time is nigh on impossible. Again, no notes can have been written down because the midwife asked the same question. If you choose not to have the scan you can still have all other parts of your routine antenatal care. 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. 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'). I couldn't bring myself to push. The same anxious wait for a little, pathetic cry. By this point I had stopped bleeding, this caused problems. He was tiny, perfect and a Down's syndrome baby. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor, midwife or hospital immediately. 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. This one cannot show you anything, that's what's inside your mind. 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. ABDOMINAL CIRCUMFERENCE MEASUREMENT AT 20 WEEK SCAN. This article was amended on 24 November 2015 to anonymise the writer. This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. Well, at the regional hospital it was a 3-D scan. 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. The decision to terminate the pregnancy was my partner's and mine. I felt crushed, I wanted him to at least acknowledge what had been found already. 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. Some stories I hear are amazing! 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). It was real. So that was it. Immediately I knew what decision we should take. There, I would give birth. I swallowed the tablet and we left the building. Eventually she got the measurements she wanted. I was then told yet again bad news. 20-week ultrasound (anomaly scan) - BabyCenter Australia Still, the consultant thought things would be OK. However, a few hours later there was another shift change. 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. Find more information and details of support groups on NHS.UK. Tears started to roll down my face. 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. As I was called for my scan I was nervous and emotional. Wed like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services. I wasn't ready to make a decision straight away, and I was told I could call them in the morning. Yeah, yeah. Many people were deeply affected by their experiences of the 20-week and subsequent specialist scans. 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). I had to wait for a doctor to explain the situation. All the hopes, dreams, and plans we made with our little bumps has been taken away from us. Scans cannot find all conditions. Could you tell? Sometimes specialist scans such as 3D scans, or MRI scans, are used to examine the baby in greater detail. But the closeness has remained after the drama has died down. It doesn't remove the guilt, but I don't know what else to do. It seemed inconceivable that we would not be having a baby in May. 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 managed to tell my mum, who said she would come with us to the hospital. Do you have any thoughts about that? Most hospitals do not allow children to attend scans as childcare is not usually available. There is more detailed information about the main conditions that are looked for during this scan on NHS.UK. But even if I was there, I still think I would have wanted to see the detail on the scan. . Several women had taken young children with them to the 20-week scan because they expected to see 'nice pictures of the baby'. 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. . 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. 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? Many parents were shocked by findings from the 20-week and later scans. Maybe our son would have overcome his problems, survived his illnesses, led a happy life. 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? 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. My son's congenital heart defect was detected at the 20 week scan and he had 2 other markers, no . We talked all night and thanked God for crap television. And it's like, I really wanted to see it and I didn't, and it was it was very mixed. Instead, we were shown to a room slightly away from the rest of the ward and the midwife stayed with us to talk through what was going to happen. 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. No, you couldn't see there was anything wrong. Getting through the 20 week scan - My BabyManual Have I misunderstood what's going on?' These opinions do not represent the opinions of Tommys and are not advice from Tommy's. So on the Monday we went in to see the senior sonographer, I think she was a consultant at the hospital. Emma was 20 weeks' pregnant when a routine scan revealed that the baby she was expecting had Down's syndrome and heart problems. By my own hand, I had to end the pregnancy. It was probably all right but hadn't had any fluid in it at the moment. 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. Next most likely (but actually in the minority) they identify something which whilst not 100% healthy is treatable. I'd had the scan in the scanning room, I can't remember what they call it now, it's silly, it's gone from my head. I couldn't bear to see the baby and asked the midwife to take him away immediately. I didn't think my instincts were worth much. 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. However painful and traumatic the labour was, it was better than what would happen at the end of it. Some people had underestimated how serious any abnormality found at this stage could be for the baby. I should stop being dramatic and pessimistic. But I still didn't want to be the one who stopped this baby's chance to live. 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. 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. I think the whole experience has made me a pretty nasty person. And they actually asked my husband to come in before they spoke to me. Can you remember that minute. I broke down and started hitting my disgusting body that had done this. My partner's face was lit up, seeing the baby for the first time. Some parents wondered if it was possible to have the same scan done at 16 weeks rather than 20 weeks. Tissue paper will be tucked around your clothing to protect it from the ultrasound gel, which will then be put on your tummy. SO much upset and needless angst has been caused by 'soft markers' found at scans. 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. The hardest thing I have ever done. 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 want to be nice again. It's been a heartbreaking nightmare. And, so they sent me home at that stage because they said the specialist wasn't available till the following day, which was awful. 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. And you know, we were laughing and joking. That they could have spotted something, or not? 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. Again, we weren't understood. 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 that just left the talipes. 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. I did. For many other women, the 18-20 week scan was the point at which they discovered the baby had serious problems. 'Yes, if that's okay with you,' kind of thing, like you do. 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. The same sense of expectation. He wanted to talk about it, but I didn't. The chances that anything bad will be discovered are v v small. The doctor explained the options I had to manage my miscarriage. So obviously quite relaxed. As I waited for the doctor back on the EPU unit. Bad news at 20 week scan | Mumsnet Instinctively, did it feel right? Last reviewed July 2017. 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. By 7pm, I still hadn't delivered the baby. The thing that I have a very strong memory of is this child's face in amazing detail. Sometimes specialist scans such as 3D scans, or MRI scans, are used to examine the baby in greater detail. I went home feeling crushed; Sam and I both felt helpless. Not marginalised into being a victim.

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