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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. Dont include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details. Some people had underestimated how serious any abnormality found at this stage could be for the baby. I popped out from work, telling my boss I'd be back in half an hour. I was disgusted - disgusted that such a tablet existed, let alone that I should have to take it. Our week-by-week PREGNANCY emails are a must for parents-to-be. The same rush of excitement. Which is what I'd seen. I was young, I didn't need one. 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. 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. He felt doing more blood tests would only cause me more discomfort and false hope. ABDOMINAL CIRCUMFERENCE MEASUREMENT AT 20 WEEK SCAN. Usually, sonographers will ask a senior sonographer colleague to confirm findings and this should be done immediately. I give pregnant women dirty looks. 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. And that was Monday afternoon. We don't know, but it's not looking good'. 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. And I am slowly coming to terms with what has happened. And I wish that I'd been told at that point, that somebody had actually turned round to me and said, 'Look, I'm sorry, but I think there's something very wrong. I was sent home with a leaflet, strong painkillers and two types of antibiotics. I still feel guilty, I still cry at random times. We didn't name him. Bad news at 20 week scan | Mumsnet 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. We needed closure, to allow us to grieve properly. Sometimes it is difficult to get good views of a baby. I was then told yet again bad news. But I was struggling mentally with the anguish, grief and endless hospital visits. Life expectancy of 30 or 40. You've had, you've had your Down's Syndrome check and that's okay. We talked about the different sorts of pain relief I could have and I opted for a morphine drip, which I could control. Having the scan does not hurt but the sonographer may need to apply slight pressure to get the best views of your baby. This was a ray of hope for us. So that just left the talipes. The baby kicked, blissfully unaware of what I had done. 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? For example, you may be offered further tests that have a risk of miscarriage. 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'). It was probably all right but hadn't had any fluid in it at the moment. My mum arrived early to look after our son, and my partner and I got a cab to the hospital. 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. 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. Slightly marked from our peers. 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. The results come in stages. I just feel very unlucky. 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. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor, midwife or hospital immediately. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me - Tommy's I can't remember the exact words but she said, 'There might be some fatal problems with your baby'. Do you have any thoughts about that? I mean the lady who was scanning was very quiet for a long time. 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. 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. But everything seemed fine and we'd been sitting waiting to see the consultant, and I'd had an examination on the bed. 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). We decided that we wanted medication to help me. She didn't say at the time that it was a major problem or that it was something to watch out for. I was becoming numb to the whole process. So we went home, me to rest in an attempt to prevent miscarriage, my partner to reassure us both. Yeah, yeah. Some people we talked to had not had a 18-20-week scan, either because their babies' abnormalities had been detected by earlier . 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). This might be uncomfortable. So she said, 'Come back on Monday. 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. At this point it wasn't looking great. I felt crushed, I wanted him to at least acknowledge what had been found already. 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. You do not have to have the scan. It is a noise that will stay with me for ever. 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. I loved him instantly and didn't want to let him go. 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. Tears started to roll down my face. The only thing you're thinking now is the birth, and what if something goes wrong in the birth? No, you couldn't see there was anything wrong. It was exactly like the labour I had with my first child. There are no known risks to your baby or the mother from having an ultrasound scan but it is important that you consider carefully whether or not to have the 20-week scan. No discussion, no quiet contemplation. Well, at the regional hospital it was a 3-D scan. No, we really didn't, with hindsight we probably should have, but not at all, it never occurred to us to be worried about it. Many parents were shocked by findings from the 20-week and later scans. 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. 20-week ultrasound (anomaly scan) - BabyCenter Australia Forcing my hand to my mouth to take the tablet was probably the hardest thing I have ever done. The 18-20 week antenatal scan and further tests. So we gave up and said we'd arrange the funeral ourselves. 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. Just that really! The consultant explained that this was just very bad luck and not, as far as they knew, genetic. Two days, after on Christmas Eve, (my 12 week date) I had more blood tests. 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. If this happens, you will be offered one further scan by 23 weeks of pregnancy. I get terribly irritated by my close friends and family. . The scan can provide information that may mean you have to make further, important decisions. It was horrible. So choroid plexus cysts on their own, no problem, but if there's something else wrong, then that's a problem. Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. The thing about that which I felt was difficult is that we could tell when being scanned that there was something very seriously wrong. Desperately trying to hold onto the glimmer of hope we'd been given. Our baby was beautiful. I remember thinking, 'Gosh' I now know it was a girl, I didn't know that then, that, 'She looks just like her brother'. There was complete silence during the scan. So, in the end, we said we would arrange our own funeral. 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. But my brain had been given a train of thought that was impossible to stop. And so we talked about it euphemistically, never saying the word "research". So it was quite common, this is what happens. The chances that anything bad will be discovered are v v small. Not marginalised into being a victim. Those two weeks were agonising for us both. I wanted to let nature take its course. This short video explains screening for 11 physical conditions in pregnancy. And so we had to go out a couple of times, [wife] had to walk around, and she had a drink of water, which is supposed to sort of change things inside, or help the baby turn around or something because the sonographer couldn't get the measurements she wanted. It went from bad, to worse, to worse, to dire, then to better. My son's congenital heart defect was detected at the 20 week scan and he had 2 other markers, no . Being deeply unhappy and kind to others at the same time is nigh on impossible. Last reviewed July 2017. Intellectually, I knew this was not the case. So I no longer trusted my instincts. I have a terrible hatred of pregnant women and a new respect for infertile couples. That's fine. 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. I was willing the results to be normal. The same sense of expectation. They said the brain was okay -, We were in there for a matter of minutes, literally -, In and out. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, "it didn't look good" and that "my womb looked raggedy". I tried to show him the notes and the photos. 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. For many other women, the 18-20 week scan was the point at which they discovered the baby had serious problems. And attribute some blame to them. We saw the consultant, who was reassuring, saying that he would rescan me and was sure everything would be fine. Like many things, the theory is very different from the reality. Is it the same scan or is it the same equipment? I wrote a few things down last night when we were trying to go over things, just to remind myself. In order for the sonographer to get good images of your baby, the scan is carried out in a dimly lit room. Can't seem to find info on the Internet. The midwife was on the verge of tears and I felt responsible. I was becoming numb to the whole process. News stories, speeches, letters and notices, Reports, analysis and official statistics, Data, Freedom of Information releases and corporate reports. 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. On January 18, my baby was born, at 23 weeks - a little boy. Our position in our families has shifted. Everywhere you look, there are happy, fat, smug pregnant women. But it was very evident. And there [sighs] was a very dark patch over one, where the eye socket was, and they didn't know it, in the Edward's babies sometimes the eyes don't develop properly, or it might have been bleeding, they weren't very sure. 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. The scan will find about half (50%) of those babies who have heart defects. Why me and not you, you bastard? There is more detailed information about the main conditions that are looked for during this scan on NHS.UK. 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. 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. Rather sharply, my partner tried to explain. b>Bad news at 20 week scan. We went in, had a scan, I can't remember the exact sequence of events because the baby was still in the wrong position. 18-20 week scans provide clinicians with more information than earlier scans because by18 weeks a healthy baby should be larger and better developed. It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. 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. They sort of drew some diagrams, and they said, 'But we need to refer you to a specialist to confirm the diagnosis'. 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. It is also sometimes referred to as the mid-pregnancy scan. So and you could see the exomphalus, this little pouch, which was obviously just the intestines where they are. We left for home feeling completely numb. For five months my body had known there was something wrong, yet I had felt fantastic. I couldn't bring myself to push. Have I misunderstood what's going on?' Has anyone been told the wrong sex at 20 week scan? 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. Good luck has not come easily over the past few years. And having read, since read my information on Edwards' syndrome, a good 85 per cent have problems with the heart. She advised I be referred to the EPU to be assessed. It's quite common, perhaps 1 in 10 they find these, and within a few weeks they disappear. I know its hard- but i really wouldnt worry about it too much as the worry will stress you and your body out. All my plans were beginning to fall down. No one else but my partner saw how similar he was to our son. It sounds crazy, but I just knew. As I say, I'm not a very nice person at the moment. Not surprisingly, people aren't quite sure how to deal with me. You've had your, you know, you've had your triple test and everything was fine. 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. As I was called for my scan I was nervous and emotional. You may like someone to come with you to the scan appointment. And still we asked to see a, Impact of the 20-week and later specialist scans. But no. 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.. And even at that early stage it was beginning to sink in that there was something really not right. 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'. 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. Could she possibly have something that's not been detected? 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. I give obsessively to charity, especially those linked to sick children. In fact, interestingly enough, going sort of. Not a good sign in a hospital consulting room. She brought up a picture of the heart on the screen. The scan was inconclusive, but the size of my little bump was measuring a lot smaller than it should have for 10 weeks. Thankfully I was met by an amazing sonographer, she was compassionate and understanding. My belly was growing and I was feeling great. By my own hand, I had to end the pregnancy. So he went out for a walk. 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. There, I would give birth. You know there's always that bit on the bottom of the thing, 'These are diagnostics, do not bring other children,' - blah, blah, blah.. it's not, you know, it's not a family outing kind of thing, but it feels like it. The sonographer then passes a hand-held probe over your skin to examine the babys body. The thing that I have a very strong memory of is this child's face in amazing detail. We strongly advise readers not to take drugs that are not prescribed by your qualified healthcare provider. 80 percent of my pregnancies have ended in death and I felt like they were telling me those babies didn't matter. And they took me into another room. She didn't want to see the baby. This time, they discovered the baby has a two vessel cord (only one vessel from placenta to baby instead of two) and I've been monitored to make sure the baby grows properly and kidneys aren't damaged. Because, when you're angry with the world for dealing you such a shit time, you begin to hate the people who populate it. It is as though our pain means we've earned the right to be taken more seriously. 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. Laura miscarried her twin babies in February. 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). 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.