WWYD subsequent pregnancies

[mellongoose]

At the beginning of the year we went for our 20 week scan. Our baby was diagnosed with the most serious form of spina bifida which had already caused problems with her brain.

We reluctantly ended the pregnancy and I gave birth to our darling sleeping baby 2 days later.

I'm 42 and we have one healthy child (4). This was my only other pregnancy (that I know of). I'm healthy. BMI is 27 so overweight but not obese. I exercise and we eat pretty well.

I have tried to find out if this will happen again. Obviously no one can ever tell us that. I'm told that they cannot check for Spina Bifida until 16 weeks. Is this true?? The GP started me on the higher dose of folic acid which I have been taking for a month.

Am I kidding myself or would you risk another pregnancy? I'm scared but I cannot shake the feeling that I would like another. A sibling for our DD. WWYD??

Dd1 had a serious heart defect and died postnatally. We already had a son. We did have another child ( sleeping on me now) who is healthy. It wasn't an easy decision or an easy pregnancy. We had heart scans at 15,22 and 30 weeks and growth scans and everyone was nerve racking.

I'm a little younger than you (similar BMI) but old enough that we didn't want to wait long. I don't know about increased risk for spina bifida but our risk for checking doubled ( from about 1 in100 to 2 in100. We felt our reasons for wanting another child hadn't changed so we'd always wonder if we didn't try again.I had a great midwife which helped

Chd not checking

Thanks @Littlebelina. I've since found out that because I'm taking the extra folic acid the chances of reoccurrence goes from 3-4% to 1-2%. The screeing midwife called me today. That goes for women of any age she said.

Other risk factors include being diabetic and/or obese (I'm neither). Oh, and hot baths. I probably did have those but am happy to stop.

Sorry to hear about your baby. I'm glad you got to bring another little one home. Happy snuggles and we will keep our lost ones close to our hearts

Good luck, whatever you decide

OP I’m so sorry for your loss.

Whether or not this is relevant, but I have very low vitamin b12 levels and was told that if they’re not controlled then it could cause neural tube defects in developing embryos. It may be something you want to get checked before trying again. It’s a simple blood test and easy to treat.

Hi OP,

I’m so sorry to read your story.

At my 12 week scan last Nov my baby was diagnosed with a condition called Acrania. The fetal medicine guys described it as ‘the worst form of spina bifina’. It was the baby’s head shape that diagnosed it.

I had a TMFR at 13 weeks. After this I was put on high dosage folic acid and told to wait at least 3 months before trying again, and to continue with it for any subsequent pregnancies.

After 3 months I went for a follow up after 3 months, I asked a few questions about conceiving again. High dose folic acid reduces the risk significantly (as with spina bifida), but I am a ‘higher risk’ as it’s already happed to me (affects 1:10,000).

However the consultant’s words we ‘you are 35, you have no time to waste’ then told me to crack on ASAP if I wanted a child.

Currently 8 weeks, but been told to wait for 12 week scan again, as they can’t really diagnose Acrania until 12 - 16 weeks so there might be some truth to what you’ve been told.

I also have a healthy 3 year old DD, and I would love a sibling for her. I’m hating the unknown, and found the last month VERY hard. Considered waiting for longer, but I’ve had mmc in the past, so didn’t want to waste time.

I can’t answer the WWYD, I’ve taken the plunge. If you are healthy and well, there is statistically little chance of it happening again, but it doesn’t help the anxiety!

All the best OP.