Which is what I'd seen. There was an extra digit on one of the hands. I know its hard- but i really wouldnt worry about it too much as the worry will stress you and your body out. The appointment usually takes around 30 minutes. Eventually, the midwife said to us very sweetly, "I think we should deliver the baby now." I endured 12 hours of medication and in the early hours February 7, 56 days after my first scan (at nearly 18 weeks), I miscarried our babies. 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. And my husband, we never got to sit next to each other in the consulting room, my husband was across the room from me, and I was sat next to the consultant, and we were laughing and joking with him about, you know, the home delivery, and everything was going to be, 'Are you still on for the home delivery?' Again, we weren't understood. 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. I broke down and started hitting my disgusting body that had done this. So and you could see the exomphalus, this little pouch, which was obviously just the intestines where they are. Many parents were shocked by findings from the 20-week and later scans. Then I picked myself up. As though I went power mad for a week, killing my innocent unborn child, and now I am tainted for ever. Not marginalised into being a victim. I thought surely everything is ok, as they couldn't detect twins the week before. The doctor explained the options I had to manage my miscarriage. We didn't feel we could tell anyone what was happening. 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? By this point I had stopped bleeding, this caused problems. My partner went out with him, wanting to see him. 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. This article was amended on 24 November 2015 to anonymise the writer. But the consultant had found more spots on the heart and the measurements were the same. I hated my body and hated every feeling I was having. And I knew there was no way out. Just doing it. The only thing you're thinking now is the birth, and what if something goes wrong in the birth? It would be a personal tragedy for my partner and me, but that is all. The 18-20 week antenatal scan and further tests. It was another consultant, who said, "I'm afraid I have some bad news - your baby has Down's syndrome." But it is a soft marker for Edwards' syndrome. 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. It was the end of January, very end - about the 29th - I'd gone into, I'd gone into 5 months by then. I felt sad, but not the complete devastation of the last scan as they had seen a change of some sort. The results come in stages. The same sense of expectation. 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. 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. Many described how sonographers and doctors were very restrained and didn't speak at all until they had analysed all the baby's details. Rather sharply, my partner tried to explain. It felt like a lifetime to reach our 12-week-scan. 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. I give obsessively to charity, especially those linked to sick children. News stories, speeches, letters and notices, Reports, analysis and official statistics, Data, Freedom of Information releases and corporate reports. He bluntly told me, he wasn't interested in whatever was seen before, he was only going to go by what he saw that day. 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. There was complete silence during the scan. But I was struggling mentally with the anguish, grief and endless hospital visits. As I waited for the doctor back on the EPU unit. 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 didn't sleep that night I don't think. It felt like a lifetime to reach our 12-week-scan. What were babys measurements at 20 week scan? We went, I went in to the scanning room and they're quite bland facially anyway, whether everything's fine or not they just look at the screen to start off with and do measurements but I very quickly realised that the woman's demeanour wasn't, even for a bland face, was concerning. Read full disclaimer. 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. At the time the same thing had, exactly the same thing had happened to my friend a month before, and her scan was absolutely fine. Three midwives came and went. 12/12/2012 22:41. I had to take a tablet there and then, under the supervision of a nurse, to end the pregnancy. And they took me to another room and they explained that the baby had what they thought was ventriculomegaly or something. But it was very evident. 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. Most scans show that babies seem to be developing as expected, and none of the 11 conditions are found. I had to wait yet another sleepless night. I have horrible thoughts. And that, that was when things where it started going a bit wrong. Usually, sonographers will ask a senior sonographer colleague to confirm findings and this should be done immediately. For instance a couple who knew their baby was 'on the small size' were told he was fine at the 18-20 week scan, but discovered at 32 weeks that he had microcephaly. Looked exactly like our two year old as a baby. It went from bad, to worse, to worse, to dire, then to better. No sort of questions about, 'Do you want to know whether it's a boy or a girl?' So I no longer trusted my instincts. 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. Several women had taken young children with them to the 20-week scan because they expected to see 'nice pictures of the baby'. Wishing to be anywhere, but here being told the same agonising truth over and over again. 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. I think what everyone is saying is that most likely outcome is that there are no problems at all. Some of the other conditions, such as heart defects, are more difficult to see. You do not have to have the scan. I remained positive, we researched lots of cases of mistaken dates, inconclusive scans, and compared them to our situation; scrutinising everything to try and believe it was all one big misunderstanding. I loved him instantly and didn't want to let him go. And I know I can't hurry up the process of grieving. And I went for, I went for a normal 12-week scan, at my local hospital and everything, they said everything was fine, there was no problem. So I took the test and jumped in the shower. 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. And I felt like a murderer. I think the whole experience has made me a pretty nasty person. Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. And I wish that I'd been told at that point, that somebody had actually turned round to me and said, 'Look, I'm sorry, but I think there's something very wrong. BabyCenter. The sonographer told me to take the notes, and the scan photos with me so they could review them also. I could hardly breathe. 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. Next most likely (but actually in the minority) they identify something which whilst not 100% healthy is treatable. They sort of drew some diagrams, and they said, 'But we need to refer you to a specialist to confirm the diagnosis'. I wrote a few things down last night when we were trying to go over things, just to remind myself. We were told to go to the hospital immediately. This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. And I am slowly coming to terms with what has happened. And the first few things they said it didn't sound as thing, as though things were terribly wrong. 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 . Did you, how did that scan make you feel? By the time I left the hospital, I was in shock. The week that followed was an agonising wait. Smiling at myself and picturing me and Sam becoming parents. My partner really wanted me to, and by that time I had no sense of what was right or what I should do. 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. Can you describe the difference between the scan at this later stage in a pregnancy? . Very occasionally this second scan cannot be completed, for example because: In this case you will not be offered another screening scan but you will offered an all over physical examination for your baby after birth. The scan will look in detail at your babys bones, heart, brain, spinal cord, face, kidneys and abdomen. Thankfully I was met by an amazing sonographer, she was compassionate and understanding. Eventually, the doctor finished the scan and said that some of the baby's measurements were very small. And I couldn't escape the feeling that I was being selfish. A black and white picture of your baby will then be seen on the ultrasound screen. 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'. So we decided to book an early 10 week private scan. In most cases the scan will show that your baby appears to be developing as expected but sometimes a condition is found or suspected. Any delay in receiving more information about the abnormality and its implications will be distressing for women and this should be acknowledged. Seated in the antenatal clinic with lots of expectant mothers with baby bumps. Thanks girls, it's amazing how protected our babies are in there isn't it?! Some people we talked to had not had a 18-20-week scan, either because their babies' abnormalities had been detected by earlier diagnostic tests (e.g. So choroid plexus cysts on their own, no problem, but if there's something else wrong, then that's a problem. I think I don't everything just seems a real blur because it was, it was such a strange experience. And at that, I let out a scream I think. So at 20 weeks I went for my scan with my husband, with my daughter, to get our photographs. We had amnio and then spent a week in absoute anguish waiting for the outcome which was no trisomies. or sort of light chat that we'd, we'd experienced before with previous scans. I want to stop having such horrible thoughts. I've still had no cramps or bleeding so fingers crossed everything is ok I just couldn't believe I fell down the stairs, I can't remember the last time I ever did that! By 7pm, I still hadn't delivered the baby. Somehow, I walked from the sofa up to the bathroom and told my partner. 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'. So we gave up and said we'd arrange the funeral ourselves. Within two days I was waiting in my local EPU unit for further tests. All my instincts were to protect my belly, yet here I was allowing someone to stick a huge needle into it. We had to discuss what we wanted to do with the little body after delivery.