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. The appointment usually takes around 30 minutes. Chances of bad news at 20 week scan mumsnet If one of the conditions is found or suspected, the sonographer may ask for a second opinion from another member of staff. I tried to keep positive. Sam squeezed my hand and told me it was ok. And that was a terrible moment to be sort of hanging on, waiting. As soon as we arrived, we were shown to this little room. 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. We went in, had a scan, I can't remember the exact sequence of events because the baby was still in the wrong position. 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. Most scans show that babies seem to be developing as expected, and none of the 11 conditions are found. 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. The baby was kicking so hard that I began to believe him. I was given a leaflet and told to return four days later to see the consultant. An hour passed and I started to panic. Not marginalised into being a victim. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. It is a noise that will stay with me for ever. Baby loss support I agreed to an internal scan as the sonographer said we could get a better picture of what was happening. We left for home feeling completely numb. By the time I left the hospital, I was in shock. So had to come back in a week's time for a scan, which again is quite a common thing I found out. Where we were living then at the time you only had a scan at 20 weeks. hi ladies. Could she possibly have something that's not been detected? I didn't have a clue. 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]. Because, when you're angry with the world for dealing you such a shit time, you begin to hate the people who populate it. And for that whole time, my partner and I were both crying uncontrollably. So choroid plexus cysts on their own, no problem, but if there's something else wrong, then that's a problem. 11 physical conditions (20-week scan) - GOV.UK I wrote a few things down last night when we were trying to go over things, just to remind myself. For example, some babies have a condition called open spina bifida, which affects the spinal cord. 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'. 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 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. Then I picked myself up. I had hope that the little bumps inside me were fighting just as much as I was to stay with me. Thinking back, I don't know how we left without him. Nice people shouldn't hear about what we'd done. So on the Monday we went in to see the senior sonographer, I think she was a consultant at the hospital. We had so much power, we could decide that this little thing should die. I know it is still early days. The "why me?" She brought up a picture of the heart on the screen. I popped out from work, telling my boss I'd be back in half an hour. Many parents were shocked by findings from the 20-week and later scans. Some people had underestimated how serious any abnormality found at this stage could be for the baby. The blood test confirmed it was twins. 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. 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. Spina bifida can usually be seen clearly on a scan and of those babies who have this condition, around 9 out of 10 (90%) will be 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. Sometimes specialist scans such as 3D scans, or MRI scans, are used to examine the baby in greater detail. But no. So I trusted him. If necessary, you will be referred to a specialist, possibly in another hospital. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me - Tommy's I felt the dread run through me. I hadn't thought about the mechanics of such a late termination, but had assumed it would mean some kind of operation. 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. I did. But for those few days they were torture. But I was struggling mentally with the anguish, grief and endless hospital visits. I had to stop myself from yanking out the needle. You may like someone to come with you to the scan appointment. You may need to have a full bladder when you come for the appointment. Abortion has never raised any moral dilemmas for me and I am an atheist, so there are no religious issues. 20 week scans look for 11 different anomalies as a rule, however, indicators (markers) are not terribly reliable and in all the literature I found, the targets set for stonographers look like they only pick up around 50% or less of these variants. And so began the most bizarre day of my life. 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. I felt I needed proof of what was wrong before I take such a huge decision and that I couldn't do it based on what someone had written on, on the paper. On the next shift, the new midwife asked us again. Despite this new discovery, the sonographer was still concerned. We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services. After the triple test you stop thinking, you stop thinking that anything can go wrong. Only this time, no cry came. And attribute some blame to them. All my plans were beginning to fall down. And that, that was when things where it started going a bit wrong. 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. I can't remember the exact words but she said, 'There might be some fatal problems with your baby'. Rather sharply, my partner tried to explain. Saturday came. During the examination, sonographers need to keep the screen in a position that gives them a good view of your baby. I think there might be a problem'. When I see a child with Down's syndrome, I have a tremendous need to explain myself and apologise a million times over. 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. 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. So we left it there, and we didn't actually think that there was anything really to worry about after that scan. Finally, Monday came and we went back to the hospital. Registered office: Nicholas House, 3 Laurence Pountney Hill, London, EC4R 0BB. We had amnio and then spent a week in absoute anguish waiting for the outcome which was no trisomies. 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. You might be offered another test to find out for certain if your baby has one of the conditions. We would terminate the pregnancy. So he went out for a walk. On January 18, my baby was born, at 23 weeks - a little boy. I swallowed the tablet and we left the building. I was sent home with a leaflet, strong painkillers and two types of antibiotics. There, I would give birth. There was complete silence during the scan. Being deeply unhappy and kind to others at the same time is nigh on impossible. And in this instance the scan was very evident that there was something very seriously wrong. We bought a two tests that evening (quite lucky as I messed the first one up!). We bought little outfits, teddies, and researched all the vitamins and foods that I could eat. 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. 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? Usually, sonographers will ask a senior sonographer colleague to confirm findings and this should be done immediately. For once in my life, I had been organised. I had to wait yet another sleepless night. It's been a heartbreaking nightmare. And shortly after that, that scan we'd finished and the consultant leant back and said, 'I'm afraid we have some problems here'. 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. But here I was, minutes later, lying down, waiting. It would be a personal tragedy for my partner and me, but that is all. When he came back, he agreed on a termination. The people who did know what was going on seemed far too sure that we were doing the right thing, that there was really no choice to be made. ABDOMINAL CIRCUMFERENCE MEASUREMENT AT 20 WEEK SCAN. 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'. 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.