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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

12 week scan... what info should they tell you?

20 replies

SarahMcCxx · 25/04/2014 08:44

I had my 12 week scan yesterday. I left feeling that I hadn't been told if everything was okay. I'm presuming the midwife would have told me if there was a problem, but it would have been nice to be reassured.

I've also opted for the Down's screening. The person doing the ultrasound didn't mention whether the measurements on the scan looked ok. Anyone have any experience?

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WishUponAStar88 · 25/04/2014 08:50

They would've told you/ referred elsewhere if they didn't think things looked right, but the anomaly scan isn't until 20 weeks as not many conditions can be picked up so early.
They look for baby's growth, heart beat, presence of limbs, check abdomen is intact and organs are inside not out and that the skull looks right for gestation.
They cannot say much about the downs measurement as they need your blood results as well to be able to work out your risk.
Hope that helps.

SouthDerbyshireMamma · 25/04/2014 08:52

At my 12 week they she just told me baby had a heart beat and gave me my due date (she told me one date and put another in my notes) Other than that I wasn't told anything. I read my notes and they hardly gave anything away either.

peeapod · 25/04/2014 09:00

yes, its a bit weird, but not getting told anything is a good sign. You need to wait for the blood test results to find out the results of the downs syndrome screening...

Lottiedoubtie · 25/04/2014 09:03

I asked about the nuchal measurement at mine, but she wouldn't tell me as she said it was meaningless without the blood result. Came back 1:8000 so I'm guessing she was right!

They didnt tell me much either, it was more of a 'no news is good news vibe'.

alita7 · 25/04/2014 09:09

Have you looked at your notes? mine gave me a write up which said all limbs Present, skull fine, abdomen fine etc the nuchal measurement was on there too.

rosiegal · 25/04/2014 09:30

Same as alita I read my notes afterwards and it said 'single live intrauterine fetus' I was also given an information leaflet for women with 'normal findings' at scan. The sonographer only pointed out the heartbeat, spine and EDD, to be honest I was too in awe to think of any other questions. I've since had the results of the quad and I'm low risk (1:7000) I'm now on a nervous countdown to my 20wk scan next Thursday.
I'm sure if there was a problem then the sonographer would have got a second opinion or referred you on, try not to worry x

squizita · 25/04/2014 10:05

They sound grumpy... but realistically they need to bloods to rule out Downs (perhaps they are cautious got in trouble by saying 'looks good' to someone who then needed further tests and complained?).

Basically no news is good news... if there was a problem, they'd be dealing with it. :)

Original poster

SarahMcCxx · 25/04/2014 13:02

Cheers. I've read through my notes and it doesn't make much sense. But they booked in me in for my 16 week check up so I'm presuming if there was anything obvious they would see me sooner. Just nice to be reassured.

But it was amazing seeing my little baby!

OP posts:

coffeeinbed · 25/04/2014 13:05

They should have told what the risk for Down's is if they have taken bloods as well.
It should also be written in the report they gave you.

Lottiedoubtie · 25/04/2014 13:20

I was told that if I was high risk I'd have a phonecall within 7 days and if I was low risk I'd get a letter explaining it to me in 3 weeks or less. This is what happened, and I know from my antenatal thread that this is what's happened in other areas as well (although knowing the NHS it's not guaranteed to be the same procedure everywhere).

Anything worse than 1:150 constitutes 'high risk' - although that's still a tiny %.

squizita · 25/04/2014 13:21

Coffee the bloods take several days to 2 weeks to come through. They don't tell you on the day, nor do they write it down on the day because the bloods could change risk.

Lanabelle · 25/04/2014 13:45

if they didn't call you away into a separate room then everything they looked for and got results for on the day is fine. The downs screening is a combination of different things, the scan at the back of the neck area for nuchal translucency, the blood tests and your own personal circumstances ie family history, age, ethnicity etc as some people have a higher risk than others. 12 weeks is normally just a dating scan to confirm a viable pregnancy and give you an accurate due date, baby is too small to see in any great detail the internal organs etc. Your 20 week 'anomaly' scan will be more in depth and normally this is the one where they specifically look for defects. If something is shown up you will be taken to a separate waiting room away from the other parents and a consultant will come and see you to discuss what is suspected and tell you what happens next (unless, like us, you are in a midwife only unit where there is no consultant and you have to wait 5 flipping days to see a consultant at another hospital with actual doctors and an actual building instead of a makeshift portocabin). Wishing you all the best for your 20 weeks.

coffeeinbed · 25/04/2014 14:06

No, but they usually do bloods first, before the booking so the results are out so when they do the scan the monographer can work out the risk and tell the patient.

But they would have told the OP if there was a problem or they should have told her bloods are not out year and she will bet either a letter of a phone call.

coffeeinbed · 25/04/2014 14:08

Sorry often even before the booking

coffeeinbed · 25/04/2014 14:10

So yes, while I agree that not getting told anything is good news, they should have explained things better.

PuppyMummy · 25/04/2014 14:12

coffee I would think that differs in different areas. its not the same for everyone. I had blood done at same time as 12 week scan (not literally!) not at booking apt. so got a letter with results of NT about a week later.

I asked what the nuchal fold measurement was at the scan and she told me but obviously this is meaningless without the blood result too.

coffeeinbed · 25/04/2014 14:14

That's true, but still they should have told OP to expect a letter and she should have been given a report.

from her post it seems they didn't.

Boogles91 · 25/04/2014 14:17

Have a look in your notes if there is anything inpaticular your worried about as the report of your scan will be in there :) x

Pregnantagain7 · 25/04/2014 15:37

They said very little to me either except for pointing out two legs, two arms etc..

When i saw the midwife afterwards and she read the report I asked if everything looked ok and she just said as well as it can at this stage but it's so small (12 weeks) it's hard to tell.

Err great thanks for that reassurance!

ElleDubloo · 25/04/2014 15:51

At my 12 week scan we had a student radiographer watching, so the main radiographer went through things in quite a lot of detail - pointed out two legs, two arms, nasal bridge present (good sign), four chambers of the heart, heartbeat (with Doppler), brain, measured the crown-rump length, zoned in for the nuchal thickness, etc...

When she was measuring the nuchal thickness, I asked, "that's not too big, is it?" and she said "no, it's perfect".

I also asked if she could guess whether it's a boy or girl, but she declined because she said that was too unreliable.

I felt she spent quite a lot of time doing things thoroughly and speaking her thoughts out loud (for the student's benefit as well as ours) so I was very pleased with the amount of information we got.

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