It is a noise that will stay with me for ever. I couldn't bear to see the baby and asked the midwife to take him away immediately. So had to come back in a week's time for a scan, which again is quite a common thing I found out. This article was amended on 24 November 2015 to anonymise the writer. In a small number of cases some very serious conditions are found. And it turned out the baby's heart wasn't forming properly, the chambers weren't forming properly. 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. 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. The 18 -20 week fetal anomaly scan is a watershed in most pregnancies because for the majority of women it will be the last time they are scanned before giving birth. 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. It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. It's been a heartbreaking nightmare. Have I misunderstood what's going on?' But for those few days they were torture. If one of the conditions is found or suspected, the sonographer may ask for a second opinion from another member of staff. The same sense of expectation. No one else felt him kick. And I can just remember flashing a look at you as if to say, 'Have I made a mistake here somewhere? An appointment should be arranged as soon as possible and ideally within three working days. So and you could see the exomphalus, this little pouch, which was obviously just the intestines where they are. An hour passed and I started to panic. Perhaps because we are alone in this, it has brought my partner and me very close. It was horrible. Read full disclaimer. I think there might be a problem'. The week that followed was an agonising wait. All the hopes, dreams, and plans we made with our little bumps has been taken away from us. I wanted to let nature take its course. I felt sad, but not the complete devastation of the last scan as they had seen a change of some sort. That he was small. Nights were impossible. DS had 2 soft markers: talipes (club foot) and 'echogenic locii' somewhere - heart I think. No, you couldn't see there was anything wrong. And how wrong could they be? Not a good sign in a hospital consulting room. And also what the prognosis would mean for our two year old: now a very happy child, he would have a completely different childhood with such an ill sibling. At this point it wasn't looking great. I just want to be normal again. 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 would be a personal tragedy for my partner and me, but that is all. 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. From losing my dad to his battle with cancer, to then having to face another battle with cancer and my mum; thankfully she pulled though. She advised I be referred to the EPU to be assessed. Slightly marked from our peers. My wife turned the screen away from her. Wishing to be anywhere, but here being told the same agonising truth over and over again. The consultant showed us the letter with our result on and, yes, there were the words "Down's syndrome". Sometimes specialist scans such as 3D scans, or MRI scans, are used to examine the baby in greater detail. And for that whole time, my partner and I were both crying uncontrollably. He was tiny, perfect and a Down's syndrome baby. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, "it didn't look good" and that "my womb looked raggedy". All my instincts were to protect my belly, yet here I was allowing someone to stick a huge needle into it. We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services. That they could have spotted something, or not? And I am slowly coming to terms with what has happened. I can't remember the exact words but she said, 'There might be some fatal problems with your baby'. Within two days I was waiting in my local EPU unit for further tests. 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. 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. 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. But at the 20 week scan, which was on a Wednesday, we saw the nurse at the local hospital, the sonographer, and she did a scan and she found that the femur length was quite short in the, in the fetus. So it was quite common, this is what happens. It can be such a shock so do whatever you need to feel better. It was real. 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.. It is also sometimes referred to as the mid-pregnancy scan. 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 . By 7pm, I still hadn't delivered the baby. 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. I went away and came back, and she couldn't get a good picture. In order for the sonographer to get good images of your baby, the scan is carried out in a dimly lit room. . Sam followed and I broke down. The appointment usually takes around 30 minutes. 80 percent of my pregnancies have ended in death and I felt like they were telling me those babies didn't matter. I had to stop myself from yanking out the needle. I sat and waited to be called for my scan. My baby might have Down's syndrome. As I left the room to compose myself. 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. Many described how sonographers and doctors were very restrained and didn't speak at all until they had analysed all the baby's details. Can you remember that minute. And, so they sent me home at that stage because they said the specialist wasn't available till the following day, which was awful. Immediately I knew what decision we should take. Well send you a link to a feedback form. 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 thing about that which I felt was difficult is that we could tell when being scanned that there was something very seriously wrong. Which is what I'd seen. Everywhere you look, there are happy, fat, smug pregnant women. And my partner and I would have a completely different life from the one we'd imagined. Several parents said they would have preferred being told something, even it was vague. But before he could speak, he, too, had broken down. On January 18, my baby was born, at 23 weeks - a little boy. The "why me?" There were also two spots on his heart, which were "soft markers" for Down's syndrome. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. Maybe our son would have overcome his problems, survived his illnesses, led a happy life. And it's like, I really wanted to see it and I didn't, and it was it was very mixed. Purpose of screening. I popped out from work, telling my boss I'd be back in half an hour. 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. These opinions do not represent the opinions of Tommys and are not advice from Tommy's. Still, the consultant thought things would be OK. 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. I had to wait for a doctor to explain the situation. So once again we were right back down, really no, really not knowing what to expect. By my own hand, I had to end the pregnancy. 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). So I took the test and jumped in the shower. I was becoming numb to the whole process. I mean, you just, you're just overwhelmed, it's so much fun. Sam reassured me, but the guilt had hit me along with the feeling that our world was falling apart. 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. 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 agreed to an internal scan as the sonographer said we could get a better picture of what was happening. And in this instance the scan was very evident that there was something very seriously wrong. Despite this new discovery, the sonographer was still concerned. Some parents wondered if it was possible to have the same scan done at 16 weeks rather than 20 weeks. This might be uncomfortable. But you could see there was something wrong? He looked fine. 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. Because, when you're angry with the world for dealing you such a shit time, you begin to hate the people who populate it. Sometimes specialist scans such as 3D scans, or MRI scans, are used to examine the baby in greater detail. The doctor wanted to do another blood test to confirm a significant drop in my hormone levels. The consultant explained that this was just very bad luck and not, as far as they knew, genetic. I travelled to work that day feeling amazing. It was over. It was the end of January, very end - about the 29th - I'd gone into, I'd gone into 5 months by then. So on the Monday we went in to see the senior sonographer, I think she was a consultant at the hospital. We would terminate the pregnancy. 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. Why me and not you, you bastard? Nice people shouldn't hear about what we'd done. It felt as if we had gone power crazy. The sonographer then passes a hand-held probe over your skin to examine the babys body. I hated my body and hated every feeling I was having. It was all going wrong and I wanted to get as far away from the hospital as possible. Not marginalised into being a victim. That was the first time I had heard him cry. Instinctively, did it feel right? And thank God I did. He was sure the consultant on Monday would see that the measurements were completely normal and that there was nothing to worry about. It was exactly like the labour I had with my first child. Thankfully I was met by an amazing sonographer, she was compassionate and understanding. I know it is still early days. He told me that they may want to do blood tests, but that 'he didn't see the point'. I felt crushed, I wanted him to at least acknowledge what had been found already. We were told to go to the hospital immediately. During the examination, sonographers need to keep the screen in a position that gives them a good view of your baby. Life expectancy of 30 or 40. We didn't feel we could tell anyone what was happening. 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. Rather sharply, my partner tried to explain. Some people we talked to had not had a 18-20-week scan, either because their babies' abnormalities had been detected by earlier . 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 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. 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. 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. 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'. We needed closure, to allow us to grieve properly. 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. Surely he couldn't have missed anything else that is so serious x. She didn't want to see the baby. We had the baby cremated. And I can, the words that the scanning member of staff used, "Everything's fine", will stay with me forever. And the doctor - because it was a doctor rather then just the, a sonographer or whatever the correct term is - was scanning my wife, and she hovered over the heart of the baby and said, 'Oh there's the heart, we'll come back to that'. We bought a two tests that evening (quite lucky as I messed the first one up!). As I waited for the doctor back on the EPU unit. Or, at the very least, heart problems. He wanted to talk about it, but I didn't. 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. I mean the lady who was scanning was very quiet for a long time. Most hospitals do not allow children to attend scans as childcare is not usually available. Eventually, the doctor finished the scan and said that some of the baby's measurements were very small. But here I was, minutes later, lying down, waiting. I was becoming numb to the whole process. The same unique expression he had when he saw our two year old born. 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 loved him instantly and didn't want to let him go. For example, some babies have a condition called open spina bifida, which affects the spinal cord. I know its hard- but i really wouldnt worry about it too much as the worry will stress you and your body out. Smiling at myself and picturing me and Sam becoming parents. And you know, we were laughing and joking. Just that really! We scattered his ashes over a bunch of snowdrops. As though I went power mad for a week, killing my innocent unborn child, and now I am tainted for ever. 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. Thick milky discharge at 14 weeks.tmi pic attached. Within it are a number of recommendations for the communication of findings from ultrasounds. 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. It felt like a lifetime to reach our 12-week-scan. All my plans were beginning to fall down. The consultant had said it wouldn't be like a normal delivery. Dont worry we wont send you spam or share your email address with anyone. He then told us what the prognosis would mean for the child. But even if I was there, I still think I would have wanted to see the detail on the scan. . 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. For example, you may be offered further tests that have a risk of miscarriage. The scan yet again confirmed things were not good, however the sac had grown. They said the brain was okay -, We were in there for a matter of minutes, literally -, In and out. 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. My partner really wanted me to, and by that time I had no sense of what was right or what I should do. I had never imagined having an amniocentesis. After that I got, I, it was about in, in 19-, hang on a minute, 2001 I got pregnant again, slightly unexpectedly. There was complete silence during the scan. the amniocentesis) and the pregnancy had already ended, or because the scan was not routinely offered in their region 5 or more years ago. Most scans are carried out by specially trained staff called sonographers. The consultant at the time wasn't really that interested in that imagery. Yeah, yeah. The only thing you're thinking now is the birth, and what if something goes wrong in the birth? But now that's changed. Wishing to be anywhere, but here being told the same agonising truth over and . Well, at the regional hospital it was a 3-D scan. Enough for two weeks after he had been cremated. By this point I had stopped bleeding, this caused problems. The hormone levels had dropped, but they wanted to scan me again. Three midwives came and went. And I, and, I felt the weight of deciding what to do about it. Our week-by-week PREGNANCY emails are a must for parents-to-be. And with each one we had to have the same conversations. But other than that everything was fine. I don't know how we got through the next couple of days. I was then told yet again bad news. I feel empty and incomplete. Intellectually, I knew this was not the case. The scan looks for 11 different conditions in your baby and cannot find everything that might be wrong. Picture every packed football staduim up and down the country - all healthy pregnancies and births. We felt as if we were in limbo. But he was not sure. Not surprisingly, people aren't quite sure how to deal with me. 17/12/2020 17:13. 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. 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. So at least then we went to that next stage prepared for the worst really. 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 everybody knows and everything is right. We need to have your opinion'. And you could see, where you should have a picture of 4 chambers, you could really see 2. And that was Monday afternoon. I would be put to sleep, and when I woke up I wouldn't be pregnant any more. I faced another internal scan where I began to feel helpless and alone. Tears started to roll down my face. I did. This short video explains screening for 11 physical conditions in pregnancy. I believed at this point I had miscarried, they wanted me to come back I'm for a follow up scan. I had no issues at my 20wk scan with DD - and neither did any of my antenatal group (9 mums). Those two weeks were agonising for us both. Eventually she got the measurements she wanted. b>Bad news at 20 week scan. This scan takes place between 18 weeks and 20 weeks 6 days of pregnancy and is commonly called the 20-week scan. What were babys measurements at 20 week scan? To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. 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 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. Which she reassured us that she'd be absolutely fine, this was a one-off. We've got the same battle scars. 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. I was another one who did get bad news at the 20 week scan. So I trusted him. 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. Last updated July 2017. 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. What would we like to do with the body? He suggested he perform an amniocentesis immediately, to rule out any chromosomal problems. But the consultant had found more spots on the heart and the measurements were the same. Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. I didn't sleep that night I don't think. My mum arrived early to look after our son, and my partner and I got a cab to the hospital. 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 so this one can't tell you anything, it's pictures, you're going, you're going to see your baby, you're going to get pictures. I just feel very unlucky. I didn't want to be convincing him to agree with me. Last reviewed July 2017. 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. I couldn't have the added responsibility for changing his mind. Find more information and details of support groups on NHS.UK. 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). Wed like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services. 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. My partner was away working and was waiting to hear whether he was having a son or daughter. 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. Dont include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details. I was booked back in to discuss management options, if nothing had happened. I had a horrible feeling of relief. But you know I knew we had, we had to make a decision that was right for the baby as well. 26/09/2019 22:46. Likely to have serious medical problems all his life. For many other women, the 18-20 week scan was the point at which they discovered the baby had serious problems. 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. He looked excited. We spent the next few weeks in a happy bubble. Did you, how did that scan make you feel? 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. I guess the morphine made it easier. The hardest thing I have ever done. The rarest scenario is that the baby is severely ill and choices will need to be made. Next most likely is that baby doesn't co-operate and they can't see some parts of anatomy and call you back 2 weeks later just because they couldn't see (i had this but because twin pregnancy I was due to be scanned 2 weeks later anyway). I tried not to sit still for too long, because then I became too aware of the little thing inside me. So we had to go in and out a couple of times, and we were just waiting around for ages and ages. . Next most likely (but actually in the minority) they identify something which whilst not 100% healthy is treatable. So he was about two weeks smaller than what he should have been. Away you go'. Never lacking a sense of the dramatic, it felt as if we shared the responsibility for the terrible, dirty act that we had committed. 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. My heart goes out to you OP. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, 'it didn't look good' and that 'my womb looked raggedy'. It doesn't remove the guilt, but I don't know what else to do. And, faced with feeling sorry for myself or feeling sorry for my child, I know which I'd choose. But it is a soft marker for Edwards' syndrome. I've been incredibly lucky to have such amazing support from Sam, my mum, and close friends and family. And I'm glad I did and she's glad she didn't. But they didn't. No one else but my partner saw how similar he was to our son. It is as though our pain means we've earned the right to be taken more seriously. For once in my life, I had been organised. 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. No discussion, no quiet contemplation. We had the 20 week scan yesterday and got some devastating news. She didn't say at the time that it was a major problem or that it was something to watch out for. 1. or sort of light chat that we'd, we'd experienced before with previous scans. For example, the babys brain, kidneys, internal organs or bones may not have developed properly. We don't know, but it's not looking good'. Two days, after on Christmas Eve, (my 12 week date) I had more blood tests. 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. No one else attended and we didn't have a service. We left for home feeling completely numb. Again, we weren't understood. 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. The doctor didn't come.

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