Importance of 12 week scan?

[pjsmum]

Just seen doctor who has said don't have 12 week scan in local authority but can go private to have it. Is it worth going private to have scan done? What will I learn from scan? Quite concerned as surely 12 week scan is important.Thanks

12 weeks scan is mainly for dating really. The 20 week scan is the important one that checks for anomalies, etc.

12 week scan can also be a nuchal scan to use as an indicator for DS.

Could be that your localauthority one doesn't offer the nuchal part.

thanks first pregnancy- v.nervous- just concerned as to why
some local authorities do and some don't.

how much does it cost for private scan thou?

If you are worried about downs syndrome, defnitely have a 12 week nuchal scan - its the safest, most reliable test, and saves the hassle and heartache of an amnio later on. They measure the thickness of the baby's neck to give you an idea of the risk - its not 100 per cent accurate, but gives a pretty good idea.

Doctor said about £150. and that she'd personally had a scan done privately- which made me think worth doing.

i am sorry oranges but i must dispute your description of a nuchal fold test as the "safest and most reliable". measurement of the nuchal fold at the 12 wks scan gives a risk factor for ds - it is not a diagnostic test, therefore women with babies assessed as high risk may well choose to have cvs or amnio or other diagnostic test later on.

having said that, pjsmum i would encourage you to have the 12wk scan and the nuchal fold test. imo they are both worth doing - it's great to see your baby on the screen!

In our area they only offer the anomaly scan at 20 weeks. You can get the 12 week scan privately, either as a dating scan (which is about £90) or the nuchal scan/blood test which is about £150. They can pick up some serious problems at the 12 week scan, but tbh all the detailed work is done at 20 weeks when they check the heart/other organs etc. I think the 12 week scan is lovely for seeing your baby but definitely not essential.

and in addition, if you are assessed as low risk on the nuchal fold measurement you may still have a ds baby.

ok - thought i'd made that clear in my post when i said they give you an idea of risk - evidently not.

yes you did - it was the word reliable that i thought could maybe be a little misleading...

plus saves the hassle heartbreak of an amnio - sorry i eeked when i read that.

In this area the 12wk scan is purely for checking dates and to see how many babies there are. No nuchal scan is offered.

didn't nell mcandrew found out about her baby's abnormalites at her 12 week scan..that must mean something mus'nt it?

when i had mine (may 03)they measured the nasal bone and that gave a probabilty for down's and they checked all the other measurements to see if the baby wes healthy.

Hi pjsmum! So you're having another one? Congratulations!

There's a private scanning centre on the A6 just before the turn off to Stepping hill. I can't remember what it's called- something house I think! Your MW will know. Anyway, they charge about £65 for a private scan and they are very nice.

Good luck with the pg.

Oh and they do the nuchal scan at Hope for about £150

pjsmum - I guess really it depends to an extent on what your feelings are about possibly carrying a baby with Down's Syndrome. If you are concerned about it and would like to know then a nuchal scan might give you more information sooner. Though I think you can also have a blood test (does your authority offer this?) which isn't thought to be quite so good as the nuchal scan but would still give you a risk factor. IIRC it also tests for Edwards and Pataus syndromes (or maybe that is the nuchal scan?).

We only ever had the dating scan, which was done at 16 weeks. No other scans were available to us.

Apart from nuchal fold, they can check the spine (to rule out spinal bifida), look at the structure of the brain, heart , certain parts of the abdomen, size (for dating). I don't know to what extent all hospitals have sonographers with the expertise and equipment to do this level of detail. But my dd had "issues" which were detected at the 12 week scan, the result of which we were lucky to have had her medical condition picked up antenatally when it could have easily been missed.