CVS at Fetal Medicine Centre

[TooTiredtoGoogle]

Has anyone had recent experience of this?
Am booked in for one tomorrow and just want to know what to expect.

Not had a CVS there but had a scan with Nicolaides there. FMC and Nicolaides has a world class reputation and I am sure you will be well looked after. Your waiting time might be long depending on any emergency cases on the day and so take some reading.

Good luck. Hope all goes well.

Hi I had cvs about 12weeks ago and to be honest I found it quite painful but my friend just found it uncumfy. They start off by scanning you to see were placenta is and finding right spot to put needle in then they inject a little bit of anestic (sorry can't for the life of me remember how to spell) the first doctor done it wrong and didn't get a sample but second doctor done it in 30seconds. When it is complete they will show you babies heartbeat. Afterwards you feel a bit tender and you should go home and just rest, no bending over or lifting.
Good luck. X

Had a CVS at the Fetal Medicine Centre in October 09 performed by Prof Nicolaides. I was scanned by soographer first and then the prof came in and did it in a matter of minutes holding my hand throughout - keep watching the screen so that you don' see the needle as it is rather large). Was just uncomfy and over with very fast. As Scouse said they scan you again after so you can see baby is OK. Got first set of results after 48 hours and the full set in two weeks. Good luck.

Thank you.
Did you have to wait long? And did you have to wear anything special? Like an operating gown? Were there lots of other women waiting? And is atmosphere really tense?

Sorry for all the questions. Still a bit shell shocked by my 1:6 results and forgot to ask the receptionist at FMC lots of questions and also got confused about time of appointment being not what it is.

Hope you don't mind me butting in again given that I didn't have CVS. I had a pretty traumatic experience in my first pregnancy, hence, why I went for my scan at the FMC.

Re appointment time, they give you an indicative slot but I was told to call before my appt to get a clearer idea of waiting time. I was told my appt was running half an hour late but it turned out to be about 1.5 hours. I was told that Nicolaides only attends clinic on Wednesday and deals with emergencies/complicated cases and so those take longer.

The waiting room is very nice and spacious but not conducive if you feel like you will cry. I can't say that the atmosphere was tense - only that I was feeling very anxious. Everyone seemed pretty composed to me. I was the only one who periodically started crying. It was packed when I went and about 90% of the women were with their partners.

I read on a recent thread that the odds you are given improve with the expertise of the person doing the procedure. I do hope all goes well for you.

As Sh77 said I was asked to call earlier in the day to get a clearer idea of time but as it was pouring rain and I had travelled in to London Iwent there early with a good book and it was fine - no too busy (or tense) and I only waited about an hour. Didn't have to wear anything special - I had on jeans and just pulled them down as you would for a scan.

The receptionist offered me paracetamol afterwards in case of pain so I popped a couple in my handbg as had a long journey home but didn't need them.

I found the wait for the results stressful as you get the first set after 48 hours but then have 2 weeks until you get the full set. Bonus is you can find out for definite what flavour you have though.

My odds were 1:12 and all was fine (she is now 9 months and into everything)

Thanks for the info. And, SH77, you're most welcome to butt in anytime .
Feeling a bit more calm now.
Just have a couple more Qs, if you don't mind?
Is the scan an internal one? Or abdominal?
And, Do they ask if you want to know the sex of your baby? Or do you have to ask?

The scan is abdominal (I was 11 weeks ish at the time). when they are happy that they know where the placenta is the Prof will come in & clean your abdomen, give you the anaesthetic jab and then v quickly it's all over and they stick one of those tiny round plasters over the 'hole' - honestly I am a total wimp about needles and stuff and it was fine.

With the CVS they will use the sample of placenta to count and check the chromasones so they will know for definite what baby is. When they rang me with good news after 48 hours I asked if they could tell me and they told me she was a girl. The final report that came through 2 weeks later clearly had on it XX (girl) chromasones counted so if you don't ant to know I would make it very clear to them. They also sent me copies of the report to give to my midwife and consultant.

Thanks Chynah.
Feel much better now I can visualise what will happen. I hate needles too.

Glad it all worked out fine for you.
I'm not sure what I'll do if results come back positive for DS - we just feel we need to know for definite before we can make a decision.

Not recently, 7 years ago. It was, and still is, IMO, the very best place to have the procedure done.

Procedure was exactly as others have described, I got telephone results within 24 hours and written within 10 days. I asked the sex during the phone call.

Don't know if it is still the case, but when I went it was very much a training hospital and there were lots of students in the room during the procedure. I was asked for my permission for this. DH doesn't like needles so he scarpered so it was nice to have lots of people about! I didn't find it painful, and it was good to be able to see on the screen excatly where the needle was going etc. Put my mind at rest.

Very best wishes.

Hope all goes well for you.

Hi TooTired

Hope you read this in time before tomorrow!

I had a CVS at FMC a week ago (though already it feels a lifetime away!). Like you I'd googled myself silly.

The ladies have given you an excellent description. When we booked, we were told they can run up to SIX hours late! The Prof is only there on Wednesdays but he does all the procedures. The receptionists get you to ring about an hour before your appt time; and then you get asked to ring every half an hour or so. We eventually got bored of aimlessly hanging round Oxford Street so went to the clinic; yes the waiting room is full of other women, but as long as you're prepared it's not horrific. Make sure you've had something to eat (or take supplies) as there's a free swanky hot drinks machine in the waiting room but no food. Take a book and an iPod/iPhone if you've got one.

You can wear normal clothes and you don't need a full bladder. It's an abdominal scan. They have 5 rooms with 5 doctors scanning. You'll be scanned by a different doctor, then you wait a variable amount of time in the room for the Prof to whizz between the rooms.

He is very charismatic and very kind, and a world leader in this field. The procedure itself just felt like something poking me hard- not painful really. Over in seconds, and he says the risk of miscarriage is negligible once you see the heartbeat afterwards.

No need to stay around afterwards, just pay and go! Back to normal activities afterwards as far as they're concerned, though I took it as easy as I could the next 2 days.

They phoned with the preliminary PCR results about 4ish on Friday afternoon. They'll tell you the sex if you ask. They send you a letter with it all on the next day; the full karyotyping takes 2 weeks. Oh and they also test for cystic fibrosis.

I wish you all the luck in the world- we were in a similar position to you last week and it was just awful. But I promise you that you are going to the very best place and the procedure is absolutely fine.

Just take food, books and be prepared to get on very good terms with a sofa :)

Any more questions please just ask xx

I had it at fmc but it was done by a colleague consultant of the prof's from King's as he was away. It was over very quickly, personally I did find it quite painful during and afterwards. They recommend paracetemol -I would take a couple beforehand to be honest.

Definitely don't look at needle or screen-DH did and he passed out! Nice to have all the doctors fussing over him when I was the one that had had the needle poked in me . You will be in the best possible hands with the prof, he is amazing.

By the way I would recommend calling an hour before your app time as others have said, then if necessary keep calling so you don't spend hours in the waiting room. Head for Marylebone High st instead, it's a few minutes walk away from Harley st and has plenty of lovely shops and cafes to keep you occupied and hopefully less tearful. They will provide a private room after procedure if you are in pain/upset (or if your DH needs a lie down!)

Thank you for all your kind words.
And thank you Flamingallah - your post made me want to cry ... that it now seems a lifetime ... hopefully I'll feel the same way this time next week.
At the moment, it's all so intense.

I haven't had CVS there as we declined invasive testing after our screen positive of 1 in 34 (probably would not have if it had been 1 in 6 as yours is) but I've had a couple of scans there, and I met the professor. I would say I would trust him beyond anyone else in the world to do a CVS - this is a man who does laser surgery on placentas for TTTS, so I bet he could do a CVS blindfolded and standing on his head.

As has been mentioned, the wait can be quite long - the day I had my scan my appointment was for 12:30pm but I rang up at 11:30pm and was told they were running two hours late already. Following further phone calls, I eventually got there for 3:30pm and was seen at 4:30pm. The waiting room was very busy, and the reading material mostly limited to pretty dull magazines (no Take a Break or anything lighthearted/trashy which is all I can manage in situations like these!) so I recommend bringing along your own reading material. I was the only one there without a partner - but then I was only in for a scan. DH had to look after the children or he'd have been there as this scan had the potential to give really upsetting news, hence being at the clinic, but thankfully all was fine. I'd guess most of the women were there for CVS/amnio and had better luck with childcare than us!!

The professor definitely loves putting his patients at ease - he tells off his doctors and had me try and throw screwed up tissues in the bin across the room. The very opposite of tense. A genuinely lovely, and wonderfully eccentric man.

I am sure it will all go well as you will be in the best possible place for CVS, and I really hope your results come back good.

It's horrible-wouldnt wish it on anyone. Will be thinking of you, hope it all goes well.

Sleepwhenidie - why not look at the screen? Is it because you can see the needle?

And is the first needle the big one?

You can see baby as with a normal scan and the needle going in -too much for me to cope with so I just looked at DH, who should have done the same.

I think there is only one needle and it is quite big, has to be when you think about it, but try not to!

Good luck for today - as others have said, he will put you at ease and is a very kind and humorous man (he had me on a edge for a second by saying, "I have bad news for you" - I held my breath before he continued, "your baby is measuring absolutely normal."

For anyone interested in seeing him in action, there is a really wonderful documentary called Emergency in the Womb - it may still be on Channel 4' 4OD.

TooTired really sorry you are in this situation, I had odds of 1:5 with this pregnancy and went to fmc for cvs.

Lots of waiting, but as others say, you can keep calling the clinic to find out when to go in.

The prof is indeed a world leader in this field, and when you look at you NHS scans you will see his name on all of the data, as he originated the science. He's a cuddly bear and the procedure will be complete in seconds. Mine didn't really hurt, and I got my results by phone the next day. All was well thank goodness, and please bear in mind that the odds are very much in your favour.

Good luck.

TooTired, hope all went well with your CVS today. Try to keep your mind occupied over the next couple of days, as I found the wait for the results more agonising than the test itself. Fingers crossed for a good result.

xx

Well, we had it done last night - our appointment was for 4pm, and the procedure happened at about 9.30pm.

Thank you for everyone's kind words and for letting me know what to expect, in terms of waiting around and the fact that a different doctor prepares you before the Prof comes in. I'm a bit of a control freak and armed with all your info, I actually found the waiting around more relaxing than anything else.

It didn;t hurt, just felt a bit uncomfortable (like someone poking me hard with a blunt screwdriver) and I took heed not to look. Held DH's hand with one hand and squeezed the Prof's arm with my other. I then counted - didn't get any further than 30 - before it was all over.
I feel so fortunate we were able to go to the FMC - all the staff were amazing, from the receptionist to the Prof himself.

Not sure how to spend the next couple of days. Feel like I'm in a dream / nightmare.

Fingers crossed.

Thanks for update. That was quite some wait! Wish you all the best. x

Glad to hear it all went well, and hope you get great results and quickly!