Wed like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services. How common is it to find anomolies at the 20 week scan? - Netmums And they actually asked my husband to come in before they spoke to me. The doctor gave her consent, and I took the four little tablets. My mum arrived early to look after our son, and my partner and I got a cab to the hospital. And then, so I went to my next scan, which was the 20-week abnormality scan, and we took our first child with us, I think he was 17 months old at the time. We felt as if we were in limbo. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me - Tommy's 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. Could she possibly have something that's not been detected? You do not have to have the scan. As two youngest siblings, we were both permanently stuck in the irresponsible, childish role. I remember thinking, 'Gosh' I now know it was a girl, I didn't know that then, that, 'She looks just like her brother'. 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. In order for the sonographer to get good images of your baby, the scan is carried out in a dimly lit room. Actually you could tell from the brain development as he scanned up through the chambers of the brain, that one quarter of the brain, one chamber was not evident. My belly was growing and I was feeling great. An hour passed and I started to panic. For example, the babys brain, kidneys, internal organs or bones may not have developed properly. If this happens, you will be offered one further scan by 23 weeks of pregnancy. Purpose of screening. So instead, I was advised to go home and let nature take its course. Fine, go on my own. So we left it there, and we didn't actually think that there was anything really to worry about after that scan. You've had a scan, you've had the blood tests, you've been good. I want to be happy again. There was a very marked lack of amniotic fluid which made it difficult, not even for the scanners to see, that made the picture of the scan look very, very different. But it's bloody hard being miserable the whole time. However, at the time neither of us could articulate that. What were babys measurements at 20 week scan? The baby kicked, blissfully unaware of what I had done. It would have been nice to see someone straight away because I was in such shock. Bad news at 20 week scan, please help. | Mumsnet Our week-by-week PREGNANCY emails are a must for parents-to-be. Scans cannot find all conditions. I couldn't bring myself to push. 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. I wasn't unduly worried at all. 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. But everything seemed fine and we'd been sitting waiting to see the consultant, and I'd had an examination on the bed. I didn't want to go through anymore scans. My partner went out with him, wanting to see him. She just said, 'It's a bit short, it needs to be checked' again basically. Eventually, the doctor finished the scan and said that some of the baby's measurements were very small. And as soon as she said those words, both of us were like, 'Well what's wrong?'. The doctor or midwife looking after you will let you know before you come. Sometimes it is difficult to get good views of a baby. The sonographer then passes a hand-held probe over your skin to examine the babys body. 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. 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. We were bound to each other because of the blood that was on both our hands. On the next shift, the new midwife asked us again. It's a bit at the back of the brain and - no I can't remember what it is - it's called, it's something that's called Dandy-Walker mal, 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). 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? But for those few days they were torture. 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. 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'. Instead, I had to raise a glass of water to my mouth, take a swig and swallow the tablet. 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. 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. He then told us what the prognosis would mean for the child. Maybe. It was exactly like the labour I had with my first child. 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. 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. This one cannot show you anything, that's what's inside your mind. Another sick joke. The hardest thing I have ever done. Specialist scans had a powerful effect on some parents because they could see the baby more clearly and in some cases people recognised which parts of the baby's body were not working properly. This was a ray of hope for us. If you are not sure, you can contact them and ask. Baby loss support I've realised that being a nice person is a luxury some can't afford. My partner tried to remain calm, and at my request rang my mum. Many parents were shocked by findings from the 20-week and later scans. 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. I had never imagined having an amniocentesis. So, in the end, we said we would arrange our own funeral. Public Health England (PHE) created this information on behalf of the NHS. 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. Finally, Monday came and we went back to the hospital. But here I was, minutes later, lying down, waiting. It was far too much power; neither of us wanted it. I hadn't thought about the mechanics of such a late termination, but had assumed it would mean some kind of operation. The contractions started very quickly and within an hour my waters had broken. If necessary, you will be referred to a specialist, possibly in another hospital. Looked exactly like our two year old as a baby. Nice people shouldn't hear about what we'd done. 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. And I felt like a murderer. Picture every packed football staduim up and down the country - all healthy pregnancies and births. I couldn't bear to see the baby and asked the midwife to take him away immediately. We've got the same battle scars. I felt crushed, I wanted him to at least acknowledge what had been found already. We needed closure, to allow us to grieve properly. The consultant had said it wouldn't be like a normal delivery. BabyCenter. hi ladies. It sounds crazy, but I just knew. That he was small. Sometimes specialist scans such as 3D scans, or MRI scans, are used to examine the baby in greater detail. And as, and as soon as I saw the pictures of the scan, having had two normal pregnancies, even I could see that there was a marked contrast between this pregnancy and the pictures that I'd had previously. I was sat on the sofa working, my son was at nursery and my partner was in the bath. But my brain had been given a train of thought that was impossible to stop. Most hospitals do not allow children to attend scans as childcare is not usually available. . DS had 2 soft markers: talipes (club foot) and 'echogenic locii' somewhere - heart I think. I couldn't really believe what they were saying. 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. Some stories I hear are amazing! 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. 26/09/2019 22:46. I broke down and started hitting my disgusting body that had done this. 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. I wasn't ready to make a decision straight away, and I was told I could call them in the morning. And so we talked about it euphemistically, never saying the word "research". That's fine. Some things can be seen more clearly than others. After that I got, I, it was about in, in 19-, hang on a minute, 2001 I got pregnant again, slightly unexpectedly. I was given a leaflet and told to return four days later to see the consultant. See you in -. As I lay down, and the sonographer started, I could see there was something wrong. I could hardly breathe. It took 20 minutes to push him out. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. 1. (See 'Resources'). I just want to be normal again. My partner watched the baby come out, and for a split second I saw a look of joy on his face. And my partner and I would have a completely different life from the one we'd imagined. The thing about that which I felt was difficult is that we could tell when being scanned that there was something very seriously wrong. On the third day, we got a phone call. I feel empty and incomplete. Emma was 20 weeks' pregnant when a routine scan revealed that the baby she was expecting had Down's syndrome and heart problems. Sometimes specialist scans such as 3D scans, or MRI scans, are used to examine the baby in greater detail. And it's like, I really wanted to see it and I didn't, and it was it was very mixed. And at that, I let out a scream I think. I didn't want to be convincing him to agree with me. The thing that I have a very strong memory of is this child's face in amazing detail. We're still not at the end of our journey, but we're much further along. The clinic advised a follow up scan the week after, to check on progress and to see what to do next. I know it is still early days. This scan takes place between 18 weeks and 20 weeks 6 days of pregnancy and is commonly called the 20-week scan. Enough for two weeks after he had been cremated. In some cases concerns in utero fix themselves sometimes needs treatment. I sat and waited to be called for my scan. This might be uncomfortable. 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. Many people were deeply affected by their experiences of the 20-week and subsequent specialist scans. At first the closeness came through a sense of guilt. I would be put to sleep, and when I woke up I wouldn't be pregnant any more. 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. 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. She asked me how far gone I thought we were, and if I could have been mistaken. I think they perhaps could have done, if they had looked a bit closely. For once in my life, I had been organised. So that was it. But he was not sure. 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). Intellectually, I knew this was not the case. I had no issues at my 20wk scan with DD - and neither did any of my antenatal group (9 mums). So we went home really and I sort of had to think about it all night. This scan takes place between 18 weeks and 20 weeks 6 days of pregnancy and is commonly called the 20-week scan. As I waited for the doctor back on the EPU unit. Entering the labour ward, I waited for someone to say, "Go home, you are 16 weeks too early." 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. We had the 20 week scan yesterday and got some devastating news. The anomaly scan, also called the 20 week scan or mid-pregnancy scan, is used to detect pregnancy irregularities significant in diagnosis of any of the following conditions: In most instances no serious issue will be found during the scan and many parents-to be will come away knowing that all is progressing nicely and, perhaps, having found out . As I left the room to compose myself. x. 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 '. 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. I felt sad, but not the complete devastation of the last scan as they had seen a change of some sort. Again, no notes can have been written down because the midwife asked the same question. It is impossible to escape them and each one underlines your loss. Has anyone been told the wrong sex at 20 week scan? And I, my husband and I both ran our own business at the time so we were desperate to get back and do some work, and things were going really well, so.. 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. Most scans are carried out by specially trained staff called sonographers. There was an extra digit on one of the hands. Seated in the antenatal clinic with lots of expectant mothers with baby bumps. I can feel my child kick, it responds when he shouts at football - I mean literally, this baby used to dance around whenever he'd like scream at a goal - and there cannot be anything wrong with this child because it's part of us already. Wishing to be anywhere, but here being told the same agonising truth over and over again. Sam followed and I broke down. I went home feeling crushed; Sam and I both felt helpless. My wife turned the screen away from her. Three midwives came and went. We left for home feeling completely numb. So we went home, me to rest in an attempt to prevent miscarriage, my partner to reassure us both. 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? I was then told yet again bad news. This article was amended on 24 November 2015 to anonymise the writer. 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. Except for the persistent, nagging doubts. Dont worry we wont send you spam or share your email address with anyone. And the first few things they said it didn't sound as thing, as though things were terribly wrong. And they took me to another room and they explained that the baby had what they thought was ventriculomegaly or something. 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. 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. (See. 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. She endured many agonising rounds of scans and tests, and unfortunately met with some unhelpful attitudes from some healthcare professionals. He felt strong and fit and healthy. Forcing my hand to my mouth to take the tablet was probably the hardest thing I have ever done. We understand the real meaning of "shit happens". Several parents said they would have preferred being told something, even it was vague. Then I picked myself up. There is always a chance that a baby may be born with a health issue that scans could not have identified. And it turned out the baby's heart wasn't forming properly, the chambers weren't forming properly. 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. 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 wanted to let nature take its course. We don't know, but it's not looking good'. What happens at the second midwife appointment? We had so much power, we could decide that this little thing should die. Only this time, no cry came. She advised I be referred to the EPU to be assessed. I managed to tell my mum, who said she would come with us to the hospital. I was becoming numb to the whole process. It was real. We talked all night and thanked God for crap television. Specialist scans Laura miscarried her twin babies in February. Two days, after on Christmas Eve, (my 12 week date) I had more blood tests. I had no idea if we were doing the "right" thing. . 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. 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. I wanted to be a passive patient while the doctor did what he had to do. 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. b>Bad news at 20 week scan. I have horrible thoughts. It was probably all right but hadn't had any fluid in it at the moment. I know I could have delivered him in a quarter of the time, but I couldn't bear the thought of him leaving me. There, I would give birth. We went in, had a scan, I can't remember the exact sequence of events because the baby was still in the wrong position. A black and white picture of your baby will then be seen on the ultrasound screen. 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. It was the end of January, very end - about the 29th - I'd gone into, I'd gone into 5 months by then. But you know I knew we had, we had to make a decision that was right for the baby as well. 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. 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. For many other women, the 18-20 week scan was the point at which they discovered the baby had serious problems. After the triple test you stop thinking, you stop thinking that anything can go wrong. It would be a personal tragedy for my partner and me, but that is all. You might be offered another test to find out for certain if your baby has one of the conditions. We didn't feel we could tell anyone what was happening. 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. And having read, since read my information on Edwards' syndrome, a good 85 per cent have problems with the heart.