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. So we went home, me to rest in an attempt to prevent miscarriage, my partner to reassure us both. But I was struggling mentally with the anguish, grief and endless hospital visits. So I lay on the bed and my partner sat next to me. I wanted to be a passive patient while the doctor did what he had to do. It felt as if we had gone power crazy. Nights were impossible. Laura miscarried her twin babies in February. It seemed inconceivable that we would not be having a baby in May. We didn't name him. 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 . Tommys is a registered charity in England and Wales (1060508) and Scotland (SC039280). I have horrible thoughts. It is impossible to escape them and each one underlines your loss. It is extremely rare for these pregnancies to reach term as they typically spontaneously miscarry early in pregnancy. This was a ray of hope for us. I think the whole experience has made me a pretty nasty person. See more information about the 20-week ultrasound scan. It was real. I couldn't bring myself to push. Most hospitals do not allow children to attend scans as childcare is not usually available. I had hope that the little bumps inside me were fighting just as much as I was to stay with me. 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 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. 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. 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. 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. This short video explains screening for 11 physical conditions in pregnancy. Let a mum know you're thinking of them send one of our personalised Mother's Day cards today, Home The same unique expression he had when he saw our two year old born. So he was about two weeks smaller than what he should have been. The weeks since that day have been very weird. They sort of drew some diagrams, and they said, 'But we need to refer you to a specialist to confirm the diagnosis'. 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'. And again, you know, you read all the books and it tells you 'this is the diagnostics', but after a while you don't hear that inside your head any more No, no, no, I'm fine - because everything's perfect. When he came back, he agreed on a termination. 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). It is a noise that will stay with me for ever. I had a horrible feeling of relief. Well, at the regional hospital it was a 3-D scan. Enough for two weeks after he had been cremated. What would we like to do with the body? . Perhaps because we are alone in this, it has brought my partner and me very close. 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. Some say this estimate is really below the reality, and the out-of-pocket average costs are higher. 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. Can you remember that minute. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, 'it didn't look good' and that 'my womb looked raggedy'. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. I was willing the results to be normal. It was just sort of deadpan faces, very serious looks, someone else coming to check. 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. My mum arrived early to look after our son, and my partner and I got a cab to the hospital. My partner spent the weekend trying to convince me that things were OK. So we hid in our house. Because, when you're angry with the world for dealing you such a shit time, you begin to hate the people who populate it. Eventually she got the measurements she wanted. 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. It was the end of January, very end - about the 29th - I'd gone into, I'd gone into 5 months by then. So and you could see the exomphalus, this little pouch, which was obviously just the intestines where they are. It's quite common, perhaps 1 in 10 they find these, and within a few weeks they disappear. Just that really! 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. 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. So we went home really and I sort of had to think about it all night. So instead, I was advised to go home and let nature take its course. The 18-20 week antenatal scan and further tests, Ending the pregnancy for family & personal reasons, Deciding whether to see, hold and name the baby, Photographs and other mementoes of the baby, Saying goodbye to the baby - services & funerals, Coping with bereavement - women's experiences, Coping with bereavement - men's experiences, Men's ideas about their role in ending a pregnancy. My partner went out with him, wanting to see him. 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. Sometimes it is difficult to get good views of a baby. But now that's changed. He looked fine. It is also sometimes referred to as the mid-pregnancy scan . I was experiencing some light bleeding for the past few days. Went back a week later for the scan and, you were with me for this one, weren't you? Christmas came and went in a blur of emotion, it felt so wrong to be celebrating when we were in such turmoil. 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). 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. Our week-by-week PREGNANCY emails are a must for parents-to-be. 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'. It felt so wrong. The results come in stages. No, you couldn't see there was anything wrong. We were denying him his life. We need to have your opinion'. No one else but my partner saw how similar he was to our son. In fact, interestingly enough, going sort of. I had never imagined having an amniocentesis. It was, 'Oh we'll come back to that'. But you could see there was something wrong? When I think about how long it took them to deliberate ultimately, maybe not, but it just felt like a bit of a fast food situation, didn't it? We'd sort of put those discussions to the back of our mind, and then all of a sudden there are other abnormalities so yeah it was a bit a bit of a shocker [laughs]. It would be a personal tragedy for my partner and me, but that is all. 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. The scan will find about half (50%) of those babies who have heart defects. Well send you a link to a feedback form. The consultant explained that this was just very bad luck and not, as far as they knew, genetic. Picture every packed football staduim up and down the country - all healthy pregnancies and births. These were said to be soft markers fo a range of trisomies, 2 of which were incompatible with life. Seated in the antenatal clinic with lots of expectant mothers with baby bumps. Fine, go on my own. He's now had the all clear and is wriggling round on . It was over. The scan can provide information that may mean you have to make further, important decisions. This scan takes place between 18 weeks and 20 weeks 6 days of pregnancy and is commonly called the 20-week scan. A long process of blood tests, scans, doctors and hospitals. We talked all night and thanked God for crap television. And you know, we were laughing and joking. And I knew there was no way out. Some things can be seen more clearly than others. Last reviewed July 2017. It is essential that all practitioners performing fetal anomaly ultrasound screening should be trained to communicate abnormal findings to women, as such information is likely to have significant emotional impact. I can't remember the exact words but she said, 'There might be some fatal problems with your baby'. Those two weeks were agonising for us both. Three midwives came and went. 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. I felt more informed, and I felt that that was what I needed in my head to see you know, that I've got to accept now that this, all these things are real on the screen and this was really my baby that's suffering all these things [sighs], but I was sad as well. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, "it didn't look good" and that "my womb looked raggedy". So on the Monday we went in to see the senior sonographer, I think she was a consultant at the hospital. 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. 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). And I can just remember flashing a look at you as if to say, 'Have I made a mistake here somewhere? Originally I hadn't wanted to go down that road. I tried to show him the notes and the photos. Many described how sonographers and doctors were very restrained and didn't speak at all until they had analysed all the baby's details. I hated my body and hated every feeling I was having. It would have been nice to see someone straight away because I was in such shock. All the hopes, dreams, and plans we made with our little bumps has been taken away from us. chances of bad news at 20 week scan mumsnet. She endured many agonising rounds of scans and tests, and unfortunately met with some unhelpful attitudes from some healthcare professionals. The hardest thing I have ever done. There, I would give birth. I have a terrible hatred of pregnant women and a new respect for infertile couples. 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. 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'. You've had, you've had your Down's Syndrome check and that's okay. There's nothing wrong, you know, we've had all the tests, everything's fine,' and being very upbeat about it all. I don't know how we got through the next couple of days. By 7pm, I still hadn't delivered the baby. We talked about the different sorts of pain relief I could have and I opted for a morphine drip, which I could control. 15/02/2014 08:02. It was another consultant, who said, "I'm afraid I have some bad news - your baby has Down's syndrome." That he was small. However painful and traumatic the labour was, it was better than what would happen at the end of it.
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