Would you recommend an early scan?

[Sunny4124]

Hi everyone,

Hope you are all well, and congratulations again on your pregnancies.

I am 8w+5 with our first pregnancy, and clueless!

We saw the NHS midwife the other day, and she booked us in for our first scan at 12w+5 (4 weeks today). It seems a looooong time to wait to know that everything is okay with the baby, I'm terrified incase something has gone wrong and we don't know!

What I'm wanting to know is: Did you ladies have an early (private) scan, pre 12 weeks, or not? And if so, how far along were you? And how much could you see? And would you recommend it? Equally, are there ladies who just waited until the 12 weeks NHS one? (maybe more patient than me!).

Trying to weigh up if it's worth it for peace of mind?!?! Any advice greatly appreciated! :-) xx

[TheDuchessofBoxford]

I had one yesterday and was measuring 8+3.

I'm in the midlands and it cost £40.

Could make out head and body blobs but not much else to see. Most importantly though, the heart was beating away.

Very reassuring as I was anxious and too impatient to wait another 3 weeks. For that price it was worth it.

[InQuiteAPickle]

I wouldn't bother. Not to worry you but you could have a scan at, for example, 7 weeks and everything be as it should be for that week but still miscarry at, for example, 10 weeks.

I asked if I would get an early scan with my second pregnancy as my first sadly ended at 10 weeks. I was told no as it was pointless for the reasons mentioned above.

I agree that 12 weeks seems like a long time but there must be a reason why 12 is the magic number. I think that the embryo only turns into a foetus around then so the risk of mc drops dramatically.

[InQuiteAPickle]

Congrats on your pregnancy, btw.

I'm sure everything will be fine and I agree that it is reassuring to see the heart beat but I personally would just wait till 12 weeks.

[jugglingmonkey]

I had one, at 7 weeks, but only because I'd had a miscarriage previously and wanted some reassurance. Didn't see much except a heart beat but I was very pleased we did it. It was £90 in London.

[jugglingmonkey]

And yes you can miscarry at any stage, but the risk greatly reduces after about 7/8 weeks once a heartbeat is seen. That was enough justification for me to have the scan.

It also got me a bit hooked and I had a private gender scan two weeks ago!

With my first, healthy pregnancy, we waited for the 12 week scan.

[honeysucklejasmine]

I had mine done in the Midlands too, £40. It was very quick, and we saw a little grey blob, but we saw a heartbeat too. After a previous early loss, it was worth it.

[InQuiteAPickle]

Did you find out what you're having, Juggling? Exciting! Is it a girl or a boy?

[honeysucklejasmine]

Oh, was 8+4 on the day.

[Christelle2207]

I had one at about 8 weeks, £90 and well worth it (am a worrier). I read somewhere that if you see hb and all is well at 8 weeks you have a 98% chance of a baby.

[Sunny4124]

Thank you all for your advice! Any other thoughts/ experiences greatly appreciated :-)

[Christelle2207]

Oh and at the time he looked like a wriggly baked bean with stumpy arms and legs. Is now 2!

[Sunny4124]

Oh also, how did you decide where to go for your scan? Did you just google it in your area? :-)

[InQuiteAPickle]

I must admit that I found the 12 to 20 week wait long with my first baby and had a 16 week scan then. I needed to make sure that they were still ok!

[BeautifulBatman]

If you can afford it, why not? You just have to bear in mind that it's still relatively early and anything can happen. Congrats on your bfp.

[GoooRooo]

I did have an early scan this time at 8 weeks because I had a miscarriage in my last pregnancy and wanted reassurance.

I didn't have one in my first pregnancy - which resulted in DS. Or the second - which resulted in the MC.

I just googled and found a local scan clinic. They were lovely - especially as I had started bleeding and thought I was miscarrying again. Turns out I wasn't - currently 31 + 4

[mangoespadrille]

I had a scan at 8 weeks during my first pregnancy, all was fine, little heart beating. I had severe hyperemisis and they wanted to check for multiples. I miscarried two days before my 12 week scan. The odds dramatically reduce after 12 weeks so I'd wait til then if I were you, like pp said the wait between 12-20 weeks is hardest especially if you don't feel movements as it's too early/anterior placenta so I'd have an extra scan then. Whatever you decide, good luck!

[MrsRolandRat]

I had 2 in my pregnancy with dd. first one private at 7 weeks, and the second was nhs at 10 weeks in their epu. I was bleeding a little and went in so they scanned me.

My private one at 7 weeks was £70.

I say go for it if you can afford, but as others have said at this early stage there's still risks.

[mangoespadrille]

I just realised my post is quite bleak! My second pregnancy miscarried at 6 weeks, third pregnancy had a scan at 8 weeks again due to hyperemisis, all was fine and DD is sat next to me on the sofa as I type!

[lauraa4]

I had one at 7 weeks, but it was through the NHS and only because I was having abdominal pains on one side. Turns out everything was fine by the way!

I don't know if I would have bothered with a private one before 12 weeks. I had a mmc last year at 10 weeks so as PP have said, you could have one at 9 weeks and everything is fine, and then you go for your 12 week scan and it's not. Also if anything does go wrong there is unfortunately nothing they can do.

[Brummiegirl15]

I've had early scans because I've suffered miscarriages - but on my 3rd mc I had a scan at 7 weeks and saw a heartbeat, but then had a follow up scan at 9 weeks and the baby had died.

But I'm still glad I had them as they gave me reassurance . I'm. 14 weeks now in this pregnancy and had scans at 6 weeks, 9 weeks, 12 weeks and got another on Monday ! Mine were all NHS.

You can book a private scan for approx £80 is about average.

[Junosmum]

I’d just like to add a cautionary tale to the ‘go for it’ crowd. I have two close friends who have had early scans, the first, was 7 weeks. Went for the scan and saw a heartbeat. Baby was measuring small, about 5 weeks, sonographer stated that she must be wrong with her dates, ovulated late etc, didn’t suggest anything would be amiss, friend was very excited, thought everything was OK and told her family and close friends (who she hadn’t intended to tell until everything was confirmed OK). A week later she started to bleed, was sent to EPU who scanned her and unfortunately baby had died. Baby hadn’t developed past 5 weeks. She told them about her earlier scan and they said that the majority of the private clinic, babybond, lemondrops etc don’t have professionally qualified sonographers, just people trained to use the equipment. NHS trained sonographers are trained to interpret the results as well as get the results whereas most private clinic they aren’t – had she had the previous scan with the NHS they would have been able to indicate that something may have been wrong, rather than her feeling everything was ok.

My second friend had a similar experience and miscarried 2 weeks later, again, scan showed she was measuring small, sonographer just shrugged her shoulders, said she didn’t know. 2nd friend was not reassured and spent 2 weeks waiting to miscarry. Horrid 2 weeks (and then horrid afterwards).

[PaperFlowers]

I had one at 7 weeks as I'd started bleeding and wanted to know either way. There was a heart beat and the sonigrapher said at that point 97% chance of carrying to term. I've already decided ill do it again next time. Obviously there's still the very sad 3% but it's pretty good odds for reassurance.

I've had loads of nhs scans due to ongoing bleeding so I'm now a scan junkie!

[beehappybe]

I had one at 7+5 and it was amazing. you can see the heartbeat and a little blob measuring about 12mm.

The scan is a nice experience and it is reassuring to see the baby is in the right place and all appears as it should be but that does not give you any guarantees. Even at my scan at 7+5 the sonographer said that the actual due date will be confirmed at the 12 week scan-it's just too early to tell anything with certainty and I guess that's the reason they wait with all other tests/assessments until the 12 weeks when they can see more and tell more.
It's great that there are no medical reasons for you to have an early scan. I find it also seems soooo long to be waiting for the next one and if I could I would probably scan every day but obviously that's not going to happen. So instead I just talk to my baby and send him/her lot of positive thoughts and love.

[Cheesypop]

Everyone is different. We had 2 NHS scans and 2 private scans before 13 weeks! That suited us and worked well for us. Each one was a great experience, and while were aware that anything could happen and we didn't rely on them to count our chickens before they hatched, it was good to know that for that moment, in the scan room, there really was something in there with a heartbeat.

We had waited four years and had IVF so perhaps we fall into the more anxious end of the scale. It's hard to say if we would have done the same if we had conceived quickly and naturally, I don't know. But for us, in our situation, it has worked.

Be warned though, you will probably still feel anxious about something going wrong. For us it was about a disbelief that there was actually anything in there after all that time. Getting pregnant without having sex does weird things to your mind

[BumbleBee0]

If you're becoming anxious and its weighing on your mind then I would say have them as often as you can afford if it reassures you.

I've had 2 nhs scans and 1 private (£75) so far and I'm 9+5 (although measured ahead at my scan yesterday). This is because ive had 2 mcs previously which were both missed and I have felt sick with worry about it happening again.

Obviously we all know that something can still go wrong, however unlikely, at any point in pregnancy, but as pp's have said, a hb at 8wk+ is very positive.
I'd be a wreck if I'd not had a scan yet and now after 3 positive scans I am started to feel positive and calmer and actually looking forward to the next scan (was so scared for the first 2 but needed to know everything was ok).
I also agree with pp about being cautious where you go for a scan. I'd look for a private hospital rather than these group on type places as I doubt the staff are medically trained to pick up anything other than an average, healthy baby.
Good luck x