There were also two spots on his heart, which were "soft markers" for Down's syndrome. But I still didn't want to be the one who stopped this baby's chance to live. I travelled to work that day feeling amazing. So we hid in our house. I want to enjoy my son again, without any reservations. Let a mum know you're thinking of them send one of our personalised Mother's Day cards today, Home 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. Sometimes specialist scans such as 3D scans, or MRI scans, are used to examine the baby in greater detail. After that I got, I, it was about in, in 19-, hang on a minute, 2001 I got pregnant again, slightly unexpectedly. Seated in the antenatal clinic with lots of expectant mothers with baby bumps. Dont include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details. I didn't really know what that was. And having read, since read my information on Edwards' syndrome, a good 85 per cent have problems with the heart. I remember thinking, 'that doesn't look quite right'. Some people want to find out if their baby has one of the 11 conditions and some do not. 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. 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. To help us improve GOV.UK, wed like to know more about your visit today. It would be a personal tragedy for my partner and me, but that is all. And, sometimes, I wish I had invited my whole family into the hospital room to see him. Several women had taken young children with them to the 20-week scan because they expected to see 'nice pictures of the baby'. Surely he couldn't have missed anything else that is so serious x. She just said, 'It's a bit short, it needs to be checked' again basically. It can be such a shock so do whatever you need to feel better. At this point it wasn't looking great. So I lay on the bed and my partner sat next to me. 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. These opinions do not represent the opinions of Tommys and are not advice from Tommy's. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor, midwife or hospital immediately. Wishing to be anywhere, but here being told the same agonising truth over and over again. She endured many agonising rounds of scans and tests, and unfortunately met with some unhelpful attitudes from some healthcare professionals. It would have been nice to see someone straight away because I was in such shock. But now that's changed. Or, at the very least, heart problems. My partner tried to remain calm, and at my request rang my mum. If necessary, you will be referred to a specialist, possibly in another hospital. Read full disclaimer. I mean the lady who was scanning was very quiet for a long time. 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 I said, I was still laughing, and I thought he was joking with me, and he said now I sort of could tell from his face that by that point he wasn't really joking anymore. Likely to have serious medical problems all his life. On the third day, we got a phone call. This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. Sometimes it is difficult to get good views of a baby. Christmas came and went in a blur of emotion, it felt so wrong to be celebrating when we were in such turmoil. 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. And, faced with feeling sorry for myself or feeling sorry for my child, I know which I'd choose. I wrote a few things down last night when we were trying to go over things, just to remind myself. But he was not sure. We had the baby cremated. Can't seem to find info on the Internet. I have horrible thoughts. The sonographer will be able to tell you the results of the scan at the time. Our week-by-week PREGNANCY emails are a must for parents-to-be. We need to have your opinion'. 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. I had to be rescanned latter. Just wonder whether anyone had ever been told? And that was Monday afternoon. And thank God I did. I had to take a tablet there and then, under the supervision of a nurse, to end the pregnancy. 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. Any delay in receiving more information about the abnormality and its implications will be distressing for women and this should be acknowledged. In some very serious rare cases, where no treatment is possible, the baby will die soon after it is born or during pregnancy. I loved him instantly and didn't want to let him go. Is it the same scan or is it the same equipment? We saw the consultant, who was reassuring, saying that he would rescan me and was sure everything would be fine. Hugely upset that to think that the baby was so poorly. He looked fine. By this point I had stopped bleeding, this caused problems. And the next day we went back to the hospital and we had another scan with a specialist, and he confirmed it was a condition called holoprosencephaly, which I'd never heard of any of these words before, they were just such long words. Again the legs were quite twisted, they said that the baby's sternum was very short - things weren't in proportion you know - the head was quite large, the neck was very thick, there wasn't really like a neck as such it was just things were kind of - there were lots of things that obviously the consultant could see that we weren't aware of. And it turned out the baby's heart wasn't forming properly, the chambers weren't forming properly. And I'm glad I did and she's glad she didn't. 15/02/2014 08:02. By 7pm, I still hadn't delivered the baby. I know its hard- but i really wouldnt worry about it too much as the worry will stress you and your body out. If this happens, you will be offered one further scan by 23 weeks of pregnancy. Instinctively, did it feel right? 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. We would terminate the pregnancy. The same sense of expectation. And at that, I let out a scream I think. 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? 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'. This is not what I imagined pregnancy to feel like', Baby Loss Awareness Week - Voice Five - Bryony Seabrook. So I was a bit ignorant of the kind of things, you know, what the scans were really doing - maybe it was, a bit na've I think. It felt like a lifetime to reach our 12-week-scan. 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. We had the 20 week scan yesterday and got some devastating news. No discussion, no quiet contemplation. Not marginalised into being a victim. We talked about the different sorts of pain relief I could have and I opted for a morphine drip, which I could control. Which is what I'd seen. It was just sort of deadpan faces, very serious looks, someone else coming to check. The 18-20 week antenatal scan and further tests. Where we were living then at the time you only had a scan at 20 weeks. What would we like to do with the body? Eventually, the doctor finished the scan and said that some of the baby's measurements were very small. Which she reassured us that she'd be absolutely fine, this was a one-off. I was wondering if anyone has been is this situation and can give me a glimmer of hope. So he went out for a walk. Last updated July 2017. But it is a soft marker for Edwards' syndrome. We bought a two tests that evening (quite lucky as I messed the first one up!). You get extra care and monitoring as appropriate and baby is proactively treated. The thing about that which I felt was difficult is that we could tell when being scanned that there was something very seriously wrong. But they didn't. And I can, the words that the scanning member of staff used, "Everything's fine", will stay with me forever. News stories, speeches, letters and notices, Reports, analysis and official statistics, Data, Freedom of Information releases and corporate reports. We've got the same battle scars. You can change your cookie settings at any time. 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. 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. And they took me into another room. Looked exactly like our two year old as a baby. I had a horrible feeling of relief. 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. Some people had underestimated how serious any abnormality found at this stage could be for the baby. So we decided to book an early 10 week private scan. It was probably all right but hadn't had any fluid in it at the moment. And they took us out of the scanning room, into a more quiet room while they typed up the report. I felt I needed proof of what was wrong before I take such a huge decision and that I couldn't do it based on what someone had written on, on the paper. This article was amended on 24 November 2015 to anonymise the writer. We've joined the grown-ups and we both feel very different. Slightly marked from our peers. You've had a scan, you've had the blood tests, you've been good. 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. My wife turned the screen away from her. There was complete silence during the scan. It was the end of January, very end - about the 29th - I'd gone into, I'd gone into 5 months by then. I did think it was a bit strange that she wasn't talking, and then she sort of said, 'Oh, I think there's a problem. Could you tell? It was exactly like the labour I had with my first child. It was far too much power; neither of us wanted it. The same anticipation. And that, that was when things where it started going a bit wrong. And nothing prepares you at all. 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. I thought surely everything is ok, as they couldn't detect twins the week before. Went off for the 20-week scan, which you didn't, you weren't there, were you, for the first scan? 80 percent of my pregnancies have ended in death and I felt like they were telling me those babies didn't matter. The doctor didn't come. Went back a week later for the scan and, you were with me for this one, weren't you? For once in my life, I had been organised. But my brain had been given a train of thought that was impossible to stop. I felt the dread run through me. The results come in stages. He had to come to the decision by himself. Within it are a number of recommendations for the communication of findings from ultrasounds. It doesn't remove the guilt, but I don't know what else to do. It is impossible to escape them and each one underlines your loss. All my plans were beginning to fall down. 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. I was becoming numb to the whole process. 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. 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. I swallowed the tablet and we left the building. 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's quite common, perhaps 1 in 10 they find these, and within a few weeks they disappear. Later, I did see and hold our baby. 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. That he was small. Eventually she got the measurements she wanted. So we had to go in and out a couple of times, and we were just waiting around for ages and ages. You will then be asked to raise your top to your chest and lower your skirt or trousers to your hips. . Maybe. The consultant at the time wasn't really that interested in that imagery. 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. Usually, sonographers will ask a senior sonographer colleague to confirm findings and this should be done immediately. 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. And attribute some blame to them. 'Soft markers'. The same anxious wait for a little, pathetic cry. (See. And I felt like a murderer. 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. 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. In fact, interestingly enough, going sort of. So once again we were right back down, really no, really not knowing what to expect. The consultant explained that this was just very bad luck and not, as far as they knew, genetic. If you are not sure, you can contact them and ask. As though I went power mad for a week, killing my innocent unborn child, and now I am tainted for ever. Those two weeks were agonising for us both. My baby might have Down's syndrome. I was saving my child from pain and suffering. There is more detailed information about the main conditions that are looked for during this scan on NHS.UK. And that was extraordinary to see the detail that that could offer. The "why me?" I get terribly irritated by my close friends and family. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. 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. We're going to go and see them. An appointment should be arranged as soon as possible and ideally within three working days. b>Bad news at 20 week scan. Our nightmare began when I went for my 20-week scan. On the next shift, the new midwife asked us again. For example, some babies have a condition called open spina bifida, which affects the spinal cord. The rarest scenario is that the baby is severely ill and choices will need to be made. But that was too easy. 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.'. I remember thinking, 'Gosh' I now know it was a girl, I didn't know that then, that, 'She looks just like her brother'. In a small number of cases some very serious conditions are found. That they could have spotted something, or not? . As I waited for the doctor back on the EPU unit. Some parents wondered if it was possible to have the same scan done at 16 weeks rather than 20 weeks. No, you couldn't see there was anything wrong. The contractions started very quickly and within an hour my waters had broken. For example, you may be offered further tests that have a risk of miscarriage. ABDOMINAL CIRCUMFERENCE MEASUREMENT AT 20 WEEK SCAN. Good luck has not come easily over the past few years. We're still not at the end of our journey, but we're much further along. 13/12/2020 20:45. The thing that I have a very strong memory of is this child's face in amazing detail. The screen may be directly facing them or at an angle. Instead, I had to raise a glass of water to my mouth, take a swig and swallow the tablet. 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. We understand the real meaning of "shit happens". 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. 18-20 week scans provide clinicians with more information than earlier scans because by18 weeks a healthy baby should be larger and better developed. 1. I've still had no cramps or bleeding so fingers crossed everything is ok I just couldn't believe I fell down the stairs, I can't remember the last time I ever did that! And it was just a bit of a shock because it's not really what you want to hear - you don't really expect that. 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. 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. So I was, they couldn't actually finish the scan then, the baby was moving around too much, so they couldn't scan the heart and the stomach. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. I should stop being dramatic and pessimistic. 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. Again, no notes can have been written down because the midwife asked the same question. After the triple test you stop thinking, you stop thinking that anything can go wrong. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, 'it didn't look good' and that 'my womb looked raggedy'. This was a ray of hope for us. 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. We needed closure, to allow us to grieve properly. But he was wrong. Have I misunderstood what's going on?' I still feel guilty, I still cry at random times. Laura miscarried her twin babies in February. The doctor explained the options I had to manage my miscarriage. He told me that they may want to do blood tests, but that 'he didn't see the point'. We went in, had a scan, I can't remember the exact sequence of events because the baby was still in the wrong position. But with time although we will never forget, I know we will be ok again. So obviously quite relaxed. Trying to carry on as normal, working and putting on a brave face. DS had 2 soft markers: talipes (club foot) and 'echogenic locii' somewhere - heart I think. In order for the sonographer to get good images of your baby, the scan is carried out in a dimly lit room. Somehow, I walked from the sofa up to the bathroom and told my partner. No one else ever met the object of my grief. And I knew there was no way out. I know I could have delivered him in a quarter of the time, but I couldn't bear the thought of him leaving me. We had to discuss what we wanted to do with the little body after delivery. 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. Having the scan does not hurt but the sonographer may need to apply slight pressure to get the best views of your baby. 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. All my instincts were to protect my belly, yet here I was allowing someone to stick a huge needle into it. Only this time, no cry came. We were convinced everything would be OK. Abortion has never raised any moral dilemmas for me and I am an atheist, so there are no religious issues. 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. 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. And I am slowly coming to terms with what has happened. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, "it didn't look good" and that "my womb looked raggedy". But on, in the middle of March, 10th March it was, we had a 20 week scan. No sort of questions about, 'Do you want to know whether it's a boy or a girl?' 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. 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. Originally I hadn't wanted to go down that road. 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. 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. The clinic advised a follow up scan the week after, to check on progress and to see what to do next. I couldn't bring myself to push. You've had, you've had your Down's Syndrome check and that's okay. I went away and came back, and she couldn't get a good picture. And it was then because we were at 20 weeks by this point, there was only fairly short window to actually, to get some more tests done, find out what the problems were, and then make any decisions that might have to be made. I could hardly breathe. We don't know, but it's not looking good'. It was real. This might be uncomfortable. Saturday came. By my own hand, I had to end the pregnancy.