Autopsy for 12w foetus.

[Curlymam88]

I hope this is the right place to post. I had to have a termination in December due to the babu having a neural tube defect. Baby was 12 weeks. Hospital sent baby for autopsy and are phoning me next week for a chat.
Does anyone know what the baby gets checked for at the autopsy or what they'll be wanting to talk about next week? We know baby had anencephaly so not sure what baby would be tested for in autopsy?
Still find it upsetting to talk about and want to prepare myself for next week. if anyone has been in my situation and has some info please? Hospital hasn't given me any info in regards to anything really.

I have no advice but wanted to send a hand-hold and some hugs. I'm so sorry for your loss. 💐

In a similar but not identical situation they sent cells for testing. I think to try to establish whether there was a random or genetic cause. In the end it was hard to determine so dh and I had some genetic testing. This wasn’t an autopsy though, I’m surprised that’s being done on such a small foetus. I found all conversations quite factual rather than emotional. In fact the emotional support was non-existent.

@tenlittlecygnets thank you so much for that.
@Didiusfalco same here. I've had no follow up call or check up, nothing from the hospital. Not so much as a care leaflet to take home. No information as to what they've been doing or testing for. I know there's a wide range of factors that can cause NTD one being diabetic which I am. But not sure how they can find out from autopsy if me being diabetic was a factor in it all. I'm just a little confused, but thanks for your info. And so sorry for your loss also.

Hello Op, yes, I should have said - I am very sorry you are going through this. Mine was 7 years ago, so not recent and I would have hoped things would have improved. In the end I found it extremely hard to get the information out of the hospital and I needed my gp to negotiate the system and translate the information, which was not written to be patient friendly and full of medical terminology. The system doesn’t seem to be set up to account for emotional distress unfortunately.

Thank you. Its been a difficult couple of months and only recently started sleeping tidy again since it all happened in December. All the information I've found out about the NTD has been from google. Unfortunately Google doesn't seem to have much info on what I'm looking for this time. Can I ask did they provide you with a copy of the report/results or did you have to ask for a copy? Or did you get it from your doctor?

I didn't know this could happen for such young foetuses. I don't exactly know why, but I feel suspicious. I am very sorry for your loss.

I'm now thinking it could be for testing if genetics were the cause. I remember a nurse saying something about missing DNA could be a cause also. Like the previous poster has said. Maybe something can be done differently for future pregnancies. Its frustrating because I've had no information from the hospital at all. Having to wait until next week to see what they have to say is frustrating too.

@Curlymam88. Sorry for the slow reply. Yes, I think I did get the report in the end, but only with the help of my doctor chasing it. It wasn’t written to be understood by a patient and he had to talk me through it. I found it hard because it had the gender on it, which I hadn’t known. The whole thing is hard.

Incase anyone comes across this thread and would like to know the outcome. Seems that the nurses misled me a bit by using the term autopsy. Baby didn't have autopsy as was too small at 12weeks. The placenta was checked for infection and that was fine. Baby was just looked over to confirm anencephaly. I asked if it could be to do with genetics and lady told me it was unlikely. So just appears to be one of those things.
She asked if I had some sort of counselling for bereavement which I answered no which she was really shocked at. So I think I should have some sort of support afterwards but seems like I was overlooked.
Thank you for your replies and information 😊