It was exactly like the labour I had with my first child. 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. What would we like to do with the body? We went in, had a scan, I can't remember the exact sequence of events because the baby was still in the wrong position. It can be such a shock so do whatever you need to feel better. 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. You have rejected additional cookies. So I no longer trusted my instincts. I returned to be told they wanted to scan me again, another internal to see exactly what was happening. Anyway we went in for the meeting with the consultant on this particular time, and we'd got to, I was 30 weeks pregnant by then. 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'. Try to relax and take it easy. Eventually she got the measurements she wanted. I didn't want to be convincing him to agree with me. So we went home, me to rest in an attempt to prevent miscarriage, my partner to reassure us both. The "why me?" (See 'Resources'). Our baby was beautiful. So once again we were right back down, really no, really not knowing what to expect. And they took me into another room. As I waited for the doctor back on the EPU unit. 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. A black and white picture of your baby will then be seen on the ultrasound screen. 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. 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'. But I still didn't want to be the one who stopped this baby's chance to live. Find more information and details of support groups on NHS.UK. We, I was with my mum, and they scanned and found choroid plexus cysts on the brain, which is just a mark, it's a marker on the brain, it's a, what they call a 'soft marker'. Tears started to roll down my face. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, "it didn't look good" and that "my womb looked raggedy". It was positive, and I felt elated. And nothing prepares you at all. Severe chromosomal conditions such as Edwards' syndrome are now often picked up in the first trimester antenatal screening but itwill usually be more obviousat the 18- 20 week scan, though usually a firm diagnosis will not be made until one or two specialists have weighed up all available evidence about the baby - which usually means that another expert needs to scan the baby again, or until the woman has had an amniocentesis. 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. Severe chromosomal conditions such as Edwards' syndrome are now often picked up in the first trimester antenatal screening but itwill usually be more obviousat the 18- 20 week scan, though usually a firm diagnosis will not be made until one or two specialists have weighed up all available evidence about the baby - which usually means that another expert needs to scan the baby again, or until the woman has had an amniocentesis. I know its hard- but i really wouldnt worry about it too much as the worry will stress you and your body out. 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. The consultant explained that this was just very bad luck and not, as far as they knew, genetic. But you could see there was something wrong? It's quite common, perhaps 1 in 10 they find these, and within a few weeks they disappear. But for those few days they were torture. As I lay down, and the sonographer started, I could see there was something wrong. There was cause for concern. Several women had taken young children with them to the 20-week scan because they expected to see 'nice pictures of the baby'. 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. Did you, how did that scan make you feel? And, sometimes, I wish I had invited my whole family into the hospital room to see him. 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. And I can just remember flashing a look at you as if to say, 'Have I made a mistake here somewhere? My wife turned the screen away from her. As though I went power mad for a week, killing my innocent unborn child, and now I am tainted for ever. I am a darker, harder version of myself. The screen may be directly facing them or at an angle. And for that whole time, my partner and I were both crying uncontrollably. the amniocentesis) and the pregnancy had already ended, or because the scan was not routinely offered in their region 5 or more years ago. 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. 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 '. And that was a terrible moment to be sort of hanging on, waiting. My partner spent the weekend trying to convince me that things were OK. 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. All my instincts were to protect my belly, yet here I was allowing someone to stick a huge needle into it. The scan was inconclusive, but the size of my little bump was measuring a lot smaller than it should have for 10 weeks. The weeks since that day have been very weird. We must have had one before that as well, we must have had one before that, but it came back quite normal. The sonographer will be able to tell you the results of the scan at the time. I tried to keep positive. You will then be asked to raise your top to your chest and lower your skirt or trousers to your hips. 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. I think it's the same - in fact I think it was probably the same room, same consultant - and [sighs] I suppose it felt upsetting because at the dating scan you're full of hope and this scan we knew wasn't going to be good, we knew it was maybe the last time we would see the baby moving around. In a small number of cases some very serious conditions are found. But he was not sure. And I am slowly coming to terms with what has happened. The pain was excruciating, but nothing compared to how I felt inside. And they took me to another room and they explained that the baby had what they thought was ventriculomegaly or something. I wasn't unduly worried at all. And I knew there was no way out. Away you go'. The same anxious wait for a little, pathetic cry. The scan can provide information that may mean you have to make further, important decisions. This does not mean there is anything to worry about. My baby might have Down's syndrome. Thanks girls, it's amazing how protected our babies are in there isn't it?! In some cases concerns in utero fix themselves sometimes needs treatment. It felt as if we had gone power crazy. The rarest scenario is that the baby is severely ill and choices will need to be made. How was that scan different from the dating scan? I popped out from work, telling my boss I'd be back in half an hour. 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 same anticipation. All the time, the baby was kicking and I felt like a murderer waiting to strike her victim. I've realised that being a nice person is a luxury some can't afford. I had to wait for a doctor to explain the situation. Maybe our son would have overcome his problems, survived his illnesses, led a happy life. Trying to carry on as normal, working and putting on a brave face. Some people we talked to had not had a 18-20-week scan, either because their babies' abnormalities had been detected by earlier . I think there might be a problem'. 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]. But the consultant had found more spots on the heart and the measurements were the same. The ultimate betrayal. He was tiny, perfect and a Down's syndrome baby. Impact of the 20-week and later specialist scans My partner's face was lit up, seeing the baby for the first time. And it's like, I really wanted to see it and I didn't, and it was it was very mixed. Yeah - in, stomach, out. For five months my body had known there was something wrong, yet I had felt fantastic. 'I was having nightmares and panic attacks. However, at the time neither of us could articulate that. We couldn't say we'd lost the baby, because he was still kicking away, but we couldn't pretend everything was fine, either. 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 was disgusted - disgusted that such a tablet existed, let alone that I should have to take it. 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. Read full disclaimer. Our week-by-week PREGNANCY emails are a must for parents-to-be. The scan yet again confirmed things were not good, however the sac had grown. He looked fine. Many people were deeply affected by their experiences of the 20-week and subsequent specialist scans. 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. Nights were impossible. 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. And it turned out the baby's heart wasn't forming properly, the chambers weren't forming properly. I sat and waited to be called for my scan. Emma was 20 weeks' pregnant when a routine scan revealed that the baby she was expecting had Down's syndrome and heart problems. I think they perhaps could have done, if they had looked a bit closely. . 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'. But worse was to come. I was given a leaflet and told to return four days later to see the consultant. 'Soft markers'. 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. We bought little outfits, teddies, and researched all the vitamins and foods that I could eat. Some of the other conditions, such as heart defects, are more difficult to see. No, you couldn't see there was anything wrong. 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. I was booked back in to discuss management options, if nothing had happened. I had no idea if we were doing the "right" thing. We left the hospital a couple of hours later. 12/12/2012 22:41. I'm trying to understand because I haven't seen a 3-D scan, what it tells the parents? We're going to go and see them. I wanted to be a passive patient while the doctor did what he had to do. The pain was bearable but uncomfortable, the hospital rang me a few days later and asked me how I was. 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. And as soon as she said those words, both of us were like, 'Well what's wrong?'. Never lacking a sense of the dramatic, it felt as if we shared the responsibility for the terrible, dirty act that we had committed. We talked about the different sorts of pain relief I could have and I opted for a morphine drip, which I could control. It felt like a lifetime to reach our 12-week-scan. 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'. 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. 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. All my plans were beginning to fall down. 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'. After preparing myself to face having to take the medication. So and you could see the exomphalus, this little pouch, which was obviously just the intestines where they are. I felt crushed, I wanted him to at least acknowledge what had been found already. Only this time, no cry came. Again, we weren't understood. Can you describe the difference between the scan at this later stage in a pregnancy? So we went home really and I sort of had to think about it all night. 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). You may like someone to come with you to the scan appointment. If one of the conditions is found or suspected, the sonographer may ask for a second opinion from another member of staff. Maybe. 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. Enough for two weeks after he had been cremated. See you in -. She brought up a picture of the heart on the screen. I had to be rescanned latter. 17/12/2020 17:13. 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? There is more detailed information about the main conditions that are looked for during this scan on NHS.UK. Unfortunately I was not met with a compassionate sonographer. I wanted to let nature take its course. Likely to have serious medical problems all his life. As I lay down, and the sonographer started, I could see there was something wrong. Specialist scans I want to be happy again. And they took us out of the scanning room, into a more quiet room while they typed up the report. 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. Life expectancy of 30 or 40. The sonographer then passes a hand-held probe over your skin to examine the babys body. My mum arrived early to look after our son, and my partner and I got a cab to the hospital. Rather sharply, my partner tried to explain. She didn't say at the time that it was a major problem or that it was something to watch out for. And my partner and I would have a completely different life from the one we'd imagined. She asked me how far gone I thought we were, and if I could have been mistaken. I didn't really know what that was. It is also sometimes referred to as the mid-pregnancy scan. And, faced with feeling sorry for myself or feeling sorry for my child, I know which I'd choose. I can't remember the exact words but she said, 'There might be some fatal problems with your baby'. 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. 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. 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. But I was struggling mentally with the anguish, grief and endless hospital visits. It was the end of January, very end - about the 29th - I'd gone into, I'd gone into 5 months by then. I think I don't everything just seems a real blur because it was, it was such a strange experience. So I suppose from that aspect, mind you having not been told that or sitting there, I wouldn't have thought necessarily that was odd. 1. With my oldest it turns out she has a minor thing that affects 1 in 1000 of the population and wont harm her at all it's just "there" and with my second the issue turned out to be nothing. Some parents wondered if it was possible to have the same scan done at 16 weeks rather than 20 weeks. Some things can be seen more clearly than others. I went away and came back, and she couldn't get a good picture. We would terminate the pregnancy. No one else felt him kick. On the third day, we got a phone call. But that was too easy. Which she reassured us that she'd be absolutely fine, this was a one-off. Perhaps because we are alone in this, it has brought my partner and me very close. Our nightmare began when I went for my 20-week scan. 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. But with time although we will never forget, I know we will be ok again. 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. Another sick joke. He looked excited. For example, you may be offered further tests that have a risk of miscarriage. . There was complete silence during the scan. I went home feeling crushed; Sam and I both felt helpless. She wanted to have a look at the skull, which was the main thing, but she couldn't see it from where the baby was. We use some essential cookies to make this website work. 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