It was real. 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. The thing about that which I felt was difficult is that we could tell when being scanned that there was something very seriously wrong. And she sort of got up and walked out of the room and called someone in. After preparing myself to face having to take the medication. Slightly marked from our peers. 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 . You may like someone to come with you to the scan appointment. I felt crushed, I wanted him to at least acknowledge what had been found already. You have accepted additional cookies. But it's bloody hard being miserable the whole time. 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. I tried to keep positive. 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. No one else ever met the object of my grief. Immediately I knew what decision we should take. The midwife was on the verge of tears and I felt responsible. It's, I mean you can't tell from these scans what you're looking at really, but I remember thinking, 'it just doesn't look quite right' or something, but I didn't give it much thought. When he came back, he agreed on a termination. I returned to be told they wanted to scan me again, another internal to see exactly what was happening. As though I went power mad for a week, killing my innocent unborn child, and now I am tainted for ever. Never being able to look after himself. But even if I was there, I still think I would have wanted to see the detail on the scan. We must have had one before that as well, we must have had one before that, but it came back quite normal. Could she possibly have something that's not been detected? It felt so wrong. How was that scan different from the dating scan? And I couldn't escape the feeling that I was being selfish. I popped out from work, telling my boss I'd be back in half an hour. Thick milky discharge at 14 weeks.tmi pic attached. 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. I had a horrible feeling of relief. 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. You do not have to have the scan. The doctor or midwife looking after you will let you know before you come. It felt as if we'd gone underground, that we were part of the criminal fraternity. And at the end of the day however much we talked about it - that it was going to be the two of us to make the decision and me to actually you know, go through it and decide that that was what was going to happen for him - and I just, I didn't want to do it. There was an extra digit on one of the hands. I've realised that being a nice person is a luxury some can't afford. 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. My partner was away working and was waiting to hear whether he was having a son or daughter. We had the 20 week scan yesterday and got some devastating news. And that was extraordinary to see the detail that that could offer. Has anyone been told the wrong sex at 20 week scan? To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. Several parents said they would have preferred being told something, even it was vague. And they took me to another room and they explained that the baby had what they thought was ventriculomegaly or something. And that, that was when things where it started going a bit wrong. So he went out for a walk. I know I could have delivered him in a quarter of the time, but I couldn't bear the thought of him leaving me. So we decided to book an early 10 week private scan. It would be a personal tragedy for my partner and me, but that is all. These were said to be soft markers fo a range of trisomies, 2 of which were incompatible with life. I think they perhaps could have done, if they had looked a bit closely. 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. Away you go'. So choroid plexus cysts on their own, no problem, but if there's something else wrong, then that's a problem. I wrote a few things down last night when we were trying to go over things, just to remind myself. I was another one who did get bad news at the 20 week scan. This article was amended on 24 November 2015 to anonymise the writer. Being deeply unhappy and kind to others at the same time is nigh on impossible. Next most likely (but actually in the minority) they identify something which whilst not 100% healthy is treatable. And even at that early stage it was beginning to sink in that there was something really not right. I didn't want to go through anymore scans. We'll make an appointment with the senior sonographer, the consultant at the local hospital, and she'll do your scan and she'll be able to tell you more things'. Last reviewed July 2017. Well send you a link to a feedback form. The baby was very, very small. Find more information and details of support groups on NHS.UK. Cardiac surgery can do some amazing things. The results come in stages. But everything seemed fine and we'd been sitting waiting to see the consultant, and I'd had an examination on the bed. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, "it didn't look good" and that "my womb looked raggedy". So he was about two weeks smaller than what he should have been. 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. 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. The rarest scenario is that the baby is severely ill and choices will need to be made. Hugely upset that to think that the baby was so poorly. Because we knew that that wasn't normal, that wasn't what we'd experienced before, it wasn't just the, 'There's the arm, there's the leg, oh look the baby's moving'. I took my vitamins, stuck to the healthy diet and put on a brave face. The only thing you're thinking now is the birth, and what if something goes wrong in the birth? That was an extremely difficult day. I didn't really know what that was. So we'd gone through the Down's syndrome or worse scare, we'd had conversations about what we would do, if it was confirmed that it was Down's syndrome or another syndrome, another sort of chromosome abnormality. But he was wrong. So we decided to book an early 10 week private scan. On the third day, we got a phone call. 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. 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). After the triple test you stop thinking, you stop thinking that anything can go wrong. The scan will look in detail at your babys bones, heart, brain, spinal cord, face, kidneys and abdomen. Sometimes women were told that the sonographer had found a 'marker' or sign of a chromosomal condition and had to wait for an amniocentesis to confirm the findings. 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. That they could have spotted something, or not? You may need to have a full bladder when you come for the appointment. I wasn't ready to make a decision straight away, and I was told I could call them in the morning. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, "it didn't look good" and that "my womb looked raggedy". 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'. And you could see, where you should have a picture of 4 chambers, you could really see 2. We had to discuss what we wanted to do with the little body after delivery. And so we talked about it euphemistically, never saying the word "research". We use some essential cookies to make this website work. 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. I didn't want to be convincing him to agree with me. On January 18, my baby was born, at 23 weeks - a little boy. And I knew there was no way out. We need to have your opinion'. There, I would give birth. I let out an animal scream and [wife] kind of leapt onto me on the bed. But the closeness has remained after the drama has died down. But I still didn't want to be the one who stopped this baby's chance to live. Thanks girls, it's amazing how protected our babies are in there isn't it?! 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. Baby loss support See you in -. We bought a two tests that evening (quite lucky as I messed the first one up!). 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 had to wait for a doctor to explain the situation. Then I picked myself up. Could you tell? 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. The same anticipation. Picture every packed football staduim up and down the country - all healthy pregnancies and births. 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. I wanted to let nature take its course. BabyCenter. It was just sort of deadpan faces, very serious looks, someone else coming to check. You're in and out and that was it. I remember thinking, 'that doesn't look quite right'. Registered office: Nicholas House, 3 Laurence Pountney Hill, London, EC4R 0BB. The week that followed was an agonising wait. We talked all night and thanked God for crap television. 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. 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. I sat and waited to be called for my scan. Most scans show that babies seem to be developing as expected, and none of the 11 conditions are found. 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. 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. 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. And that was Monday afternoon. My wife had been very, very healthy, more healthy than the first pregnancy, and of course was shattered by the fact that the news, the news was appalling, very serious faces. I had my little leaflet, printed off leaflet about choroid plexus cysts. It feels very lonely and isolating. Parents get a chance to emotionally adapt to news and plan. 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 felt empty, scared, guilty and incredibly heartbroken. Your mind has closed to the possibility that there could be anything wrong. But you could see there was something wrong? So we left it there, and we didn't actually think that there was anything really to worry about after that scan. There is always a chance that a baby may be born with a health issue that scans could not have identified. 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'). This image shows a baby's face and hands at 20 weeks, and gives you an idea of what you'll be able to see at this scan. I think I don't everything just seems a real blur because it was, it was such a strange experience. Not surprisingly, people aren't quite sure how to deal with me. He wanted to talk about it, but I didn't. I know its hard- but i really wouldnt worry about it too much as the worry will stress you and your body out. In fact, interestingly enough, going sort of. He had to come to the decision by himself. She describes having to make a . And I could see, before she even said anything I could see that there was something wrong with the heart. But that was too easy. The doctor wanted to do another blood test to confirm a significant drop in my hormone levels. Try to relax and take it easy. As I lay down, and the sonographer started, I could see there was something wrong. The baby kicked, blissfully unaware of what I had done. There's nothing wrong, you know, we've had all the tests, everything's fine,' and being very upbeat about it all. And they took us out of the scanning room, into a more quiet room while they typed up the report. A few people recalled how frightened and alarmed they became when they sensed that the atmosphere in the scanning room changed in an instant from 'jokey' to serious when the baby's problems were detected. 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. Have I misunderstood what's going on?' 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. The blood test confirmed it was twins. All my instincts were to protect my belly, yet here I was allowing someone to stick a huge needle into it. I want to be nice again. I tried to show him the notes and the photos. I mean the lady who was scanning was very quiet for a long time. Looked exactly like our two year old as a baby. 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. And as soon as she said those words, both of us were like, 'Well what's wrong?'. Many parents were shocked by findings from the 20-week and later scans. I believed at this point I had miscarried, they wanted me to come back I'm for a follow up scan. If necessary, you will be referred to a specialist, possibly in another hospital. The screen may be directly facing them or at an angle. 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. I tried not to sit still for too long, because then I became too aware of the little thing inside me. The pain was bearable but uncomfortable, the hospital rang me a few days later and asked me how I was. I give obsessively to charity, especially those linked to sick children. Many described how sonographers and doctors were very restrained and didn't speak at all until they had analysed all the baby's details. She endured many agonising rounds of scans and tests, and unfortunately met with some unhelpful attitudes from some healthcare professionals. I thought surely everything is ok, as they couldn't detect twins the week before. We were told to go to the hospital immediately. A black and white picture of your baby will then be seen on the ultrasound screen. Likely to have serious medical problems all his life. In most cases the scan will show that your baby appears to be developing as expected but sometimes a condition is found or suspected. We had the same conversation, but obviously were not making any sense to her at all. And I'm glad I did and she's glad she didn't. What were babys measurements at 20 week scan? It was, 'Oh we'll come back to that'. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. In some very serious rare cases, where no treatment is possible, the baby will die soon after it is born or during pregnancy. Our position in our families has shifted. No one else attended and we didn't have a service. 17/12/2020 17:13. At which point they turned round and said, 'Well, there is something very seriously wrong with the baby, we don't know exactly what, but you do need to have a more in-depth scan at your regional hospital to find out the detail'. For many other women, the 18-20 week scan was the point at which they discovered the baby had serious problems. The decision to terminate the pregnancy was my partner's and mine. I was disgusted - disgusted that such a tablet existed, let alone that I should have to take it. The "why me?" I want to be happy again. So that was it. As I lay down, and the sonographer started, I could see there was something wrong. The consultant at the time wasn't really that interested in that imagery. And I, and, I felt the weight of deciding what to do about it. She didn't say at the time that it was a major problem or that it was something to watch out for. Many people were deeply affected by their experiences of the 20-week and subsequent specialist scans. My wife turned the screen away from her. She advised I be referred to the EPU to be assessed. Emma was 20 weeks' pregnant when a routine scan revealed that the baby she was expecting had Down's syndrome and heart problems. And, sometimes, I wish I had invited my whole family into the hospital room to see him. Can't seem to find info on the Internet. We'd just spent some time away on a, on a summer holiday and come back expecting to have this scan and be told, 'All fine. This does not mean there is anything to worry about. 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 noticed the box of tissues on the table. Last updated July 2017. And the first few things they said it didn't sound as thing, as though things were terribly wrong. 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. Christmas came and went in a blur of emotion, it felt so wrong to be celebrating when we were in such turmoil. But for those few days they were torture. I had no idea if we were doing the "right" thing. I still feel guilty, I still cry at random times. Never lacking a sense of the dramatic, it felt as if we shared the responsibility for the terrible, dirty act that we had committed. I was becoming numb to the whole process. How common is it for 2nd baby to come early..? At this point it wasn't looking great. It would have been nice to see someone straight away because I was in such shock. 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. But before he could speak, he, too, had broken down. When I see a child with Down's syndrome, I have a tremendous need to explain myself and apologise a million times over. As I was called for my scan I was nervous and emotional.

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