Location, Location, Location, Why are some ladies being offered 2 scans?

[Lara310809]

Some women are offered early scans if they have a history of miscarriage, or if they've been TTC with Clomid etc. Most women receive one scan at 12 weeks and 1 scan at 20 weeks.

 

[Adela Quested]

But I think if I had an earlier scan and there was no heartbeat, or the baby was measuring too small for dates...which happens in perfectly healthy pregnancies, then I would have put myself under way too much stress and worry, which in the long run is not good for baby. Also, you cannot change any outcome

I thoroughly agree with this - I knew that whatever the story was with my bean there was nothing that could be done - but I was so sure that it was gone that I just needed to know (I felt like a fool keeping to the dietary restrictions after having had so much bleeding!) The funny part of course is that I was aware that even if we saw nothing much it wouldn't prove anything in itself and I'd need to wait and have further scans - and yet everything looked fine in there in the end!

I think that there needs to be a balance though, with more communication to expectant mothers and more appreciation of the stress that bleeding etc can bring.

 

[Mum2bewaiting]

^^ oh yeah, completely agree with that, my mc was handled horridly, and agree that early scans should be offered for concerns... the early pregnancy unit guidlines read to me (as a nurse) that scans should be offered when there is bleeding,pain or severe loss of symptoms... it was the loss of symptoms that I should have got a scan when asked if it was ok to the community MW team, I saw my mw 10 days later, told her, but again not offered. It took 4 days to get a scan when I started bleeding, which I think is why they didn't offer me one initially. As it was a weekend I ended up in A&E, the info they had and have was poor, and I ended up back there 4 times in 5days, the last twice by ambulance... something that would have been avoided if services were better

 

[BabyJayne]

Completely agree - emergency scans for emergencies are vital...and any bleeding etc needs to be investigated asap. I just think early scans for those of us who are lucky enough not to have those symptoms and who just want to see if everything's ok can be more worry than they worth.

 

[Mum2bewaiting]

^^ it is just a pain that the emergency scans tend to be monday to fri 9-5 (unless the suspaect an ectopic (which they 'ruled out' on my at 11 weeks )