Asking for an early scan?

[Clairejessica123]

I'm currently 7+4 with baby number one after a mmc in September last year. I've got my booking in appointment tomorrow and was wondering if others have had sympathetic midwifes when it has come to asking for an early scan? I have found so,me where close to me that offers early scans at £100

i had an mmc november last year and wasnt offered one. i dint actually want one as my first dc and after the awful scan experience last time was petrified.

however, i had a bleed last weekend so ended up with an early scan anyway last wednesday. dreaded it as assumed was just the same as last time. luckily everything was fine!
its worth asking but i dont know if theyll go for it.

congrats on your pregnancy, hope everything goes smoothly

In most places you aren't eligable for extra scans until you have had 3 or more losses. No harm in asking though, or you can go private without any referral.

I'm hoping that they will. Only because everything was fine last time no cramping bleeding etc so like most people I think you kinda feel out of the woods a bit when you reach the 12 week mark. I'll keep my fingers crossed and ask nicely

Unfortunately early scans don't prevent miscarriage they just show you how the baby is during the time of the scan.
If you had pain or bleeding then that would be a different matter.

They probably will let you have one for reassurance, but please please please be aware that an early scan still does not mean you won't MMC again - I have seen so many ladies on here who have an early scan only to find baby has stopped growing at 8-9 weeks.

I also was in the same boat (early miscarriages) and had early scans, but it really does only reassure you for a week or two before you worry again

I had a silent miscarriage last year also and I'm not 9 weeks pregnant, I wasn't allowed an early scan as I haven't had 3 miscarriages but I payed privately with premier scans and it was on £70 was worth it!

Now*

I completely understand that I can still miscarry even after having a good scan. Last time you couldn't see the baby so it meant I didn't get past 5 weeks so hopefully by having a positive one it will reassure me for the few weeks inbetween that and my 12 week. My husband is in the Air Force and deploying on friday for 6 months so I know it's very unlikely I will get one before them but he is stressing that he won't be here if something goes wrong

I had a sympathetic midwife who did get me an early scan after a mmc. It was reassuring but only for a day or two tbh.
And I'd had an early scan with the mmc too - pregnancy ended 4 days later.

No harm in asking but it's not usually offered.

I was able to self-refer to the local EPU - they'd told me that this would be the case after a miscarriage. In fact, they gave me 2 reassurance scans before my first 'official scan'. It might be worth phoning local EPUs to find out whether self-referral is a possible.

One of my friends self refered to the local EPU but she's had two mmc and complications with her dd. she lied this time by saying she was having pain to get a scan which obviously I do not agree with doing. But I will keep it in mind to ask them if midwife says no

I do think it depends heavily on the EPU - I started bleeding, and self-referred (I was told to do this by my GP). I had miscarried, and whilst the EPU were talking through my options with me they told me that I could self-refer simply for reassurance in any future pregnancies (maybe they found that it avoids people lying about pains/bleeding in order to get reassurance scans). I don't think you can lose anything by phoning up local EPUs, particularly as you're being honest. Best wishes.

I had an mmc in 2013 and then got pregnant again last year. I was so anxious and upset about it happening again that I had to go to my GP. Luckily he was very sympathetic and referred me to the local EPU for an early scan at 7+3. Fortunately there was a heartbeat, although it only reassured me for about 24 hours.

Anyway, I had a happy outcome who is currently snuffling away in her crib next to me. But I would say that it's worth asking, and if you have no luck then self refer to an epu (which is what I did the first time, no bleeding or pain, just a gut feeling something was wrong).

Good luck.

I can see why you'd like one OP but in my experience it might not help put your mind at rest.
I had an incomplete miscarriage a couple of years ago which was very traumatic and I was in hospital for days.
Got pregnant last year and at about 6 weeks had bleeding and pain in one side. I was admitted to the EPAU by my doctor with suspected ectopic pregnany. Had a scan which ruled out ectopic but couldn't see a heartbeat, had to wait a week for another scan which saw a bigger baby but no heartbeat. Had to wait another week for a scan where finally we saw a heartbeat. Every time was told to 'pack an overnight bag'. It was horrible.
The 2+ weeks of waiting was just horrendous, and even though we saw a heartbeat there was no guarantee there would still be one by 12 weeks. If anything the scans made me more nervous than I was anyway.
Ask your midwife if they'll send you for one, no harm in asking, but try not to be disappointed if she says no as it's not routine, even if you have had a miscarriage before. Hope everything goes well

I had a MMC last year and this time I paid to have a private early scan at 8 weeks. I think that's probably your best option.

Hi OP I had a MMC in June and fell pregnant again in October. I didn't get offered an early scan just for reassurance, but I had spotting so ended up having early scans at 6 and 10 weeks anyway. It's true that you can still MC after a positive early scan, but your chances of a successful outcome are very much increased when you see a heartbeat.

This is from the Miscarriage Association website:

'Research has shown that if you see a heartbeat at 6 weeks of pregnancy, the chances of the pregnancy continuing are 78%.

A heartbeat at 8 weeks increases the chance of a continuing pregnancy to 98% and at 10 weeks that goes up to 99.4%.'

www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk/information/ultrasound-scans/

The scans I had at 6 and 10 weeks were at the EPU due to spotting. Once I got my BFP (and before the spotting) I booked a private scan at eight weeks which I still went to as well. I chose eight weeks as I knew from the Miscarriage Association website, that I stood a very good chance if all was well at the scan.

I'm 25 weeks now and all is well. Good luck!

When I got pregnant after my MMC, the first midwife I spoke to to arrange my booking appointment couldn't have been less interested or sympathetic - she in fact arranged my booking appointment for a time at which, going by my dates, I would have been well over 12wks, and the scan wasn't to be arranged until after that appointment, making some of the tests/measurements irrelevant, as I think they can only be done up to 13wks and a few days (e.g. nuchal translucency - and as it turned out, I had a borderline measurement for this, so went down the whole CVS/tests route - all ok, happily).

I called the EPU straight after getting off the phone with her, quite upset as it felt like she was saying there wasn't any point in me having an earlier appointment after last time. The lady I spoke to at the EPU was lovely and arranged an early scan for me at when they calculated I'd be just over 8wks, so I only had a couple of weeks to wait for that scan. That scan showed I was more like 9wks than 8, so I called the midwife team again and got my booking appt rearranged for nearly a full month earlier than the first midwife had arranged. The second midwife I spoke to was lovely and couldn't understand why I'd had this hassle in the first place, so in my experience, it really depends on who you speak to. Hopefully your midwife will be receptive but if not, I'd call your local EPU directly. Good luck

just wanted to add at my scan last week where they dated me 9wk (should be 9+2 but apparently quite common to be out at the scan) the sonographer said that once you have seen everything good and healthy at that point there is hardly any chance of anything going wrong.

if i were you if maybe wait until 9wks + to get the same reassurance.

i understand how worried you are, in these early days (and i an probably wrong) but i kept telling myself not many people experience two mmc's in a row. it kept me sane!

OP - just to add that there is a thread on here for women who are pregnant again after a MC. Please feel free to join us, as we all know a little of what you're going through. A new thread has just been created, so it's the perfect time to join.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pregnancy/2338424-Were-posifrickintive-Another-posifrickintivity-thread-for-pregnancy-after-miscarriage-3

That's for the reassurance ladies! Thesmallbear I had read those facts which are quite comforting and was why I didn't ask for one when I arranged my booking in appointment as I didn.t want to go too early and would rather be a bit further along. I did join a thread when I found out but I had such a horrific time afterward my hospital I couldnt bring myself to deliberately think about it for a few months. I won't push for one tomorrow and if it's no ill book a private in a week or so

I think it is unlikely but worth mentioning to your MW if you are worried. If nothing else they might let you book in for your 12 week scan on earliest date possible?

Where I am you don't get early scans unless you've had 2-3 miscarriages, depending on your age. I am not sure if it is the same everywhere but the scans in the early miscarriage unit at my hospital are done with different machinery. A sort of mobile unit. Due to a tilted cervix these never worked on me and I had to be referred back to ultrasound every time - so what should have been a reassurance scan was normally incredibly stressful! My local unit is definitely struggling and even with symptoms and history you don't always get a scan straightaway.

oh mrsg the sonographer at my scan last week which was done on epu said that my 12 week scan will be on different equipment and much more accurate / clear. wonder if all epu's use different equipment?