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Pregnancy

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

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Original poster

Good or bad idea to get early private scan

28 replies

Sophia1984 · 18/08/2015 14:47

Like everyone else at this stage (6 w pregnant) I'm finding the waiting so, so hard, and am really worried about having a missed miscarriage. I have my booking appointment at 10 weeks but no word yet as to when my first scan will be. What are the pluses and minuses of paying for a private scan (except for the cost of course!). Part of me thinks I should just get used to worry and uncertainty, because there is no certainty, and a scan would just be a brief reassurance before I found something else to worry about! What does everyone think? Any tips on being calm and happy about being pregnant while also being aware that there's a reasonably chance anyone could have a miscarriage.. seems impossible to be simultaneously excited and realistic!

OP posts:

gamerchick · 18/08/2015 14:51

It's personal I think. I was happy to wait considering how much you can see at each stage. At 6 weeks it wouldn't have been worth it for me.

QforCucumber · 18/08/2015 14:59

for me it was the best £80 I've ever spent - mine was at 9+1 and showed baba wriggling away with a strong heartbeat.

Now 10+3 and though I know things still aren't certain its given me that little bit of something to smile at - have the picture in my bag now.
This for me was due to a previous mmc at 8 weeks so just needed the peace of mind to not get too anxious. NHS scan date isn't until I'll be 13+2 so really glad I got mine done early.

mascaraisamust · 18/08/2015 15:01

Hi Sophia, I'm 6weeks too. I've paid for my early scan as reassurance that this is happening. I've got no real symptoms so I think it will put my mind at ease a little. The scan is fairly cheap (well cheaper than I thought it would be) and I think it'll just help me along to the 12 week marker. I probably could wait on and I can cancel the scan if i wish but from seeing the midwife I know I'll be itching to get a glimpse three days later.

My gp told me (when I went about spotting) that there is no point putting yourself through the what ifs and to just take things in my stride as nothing I can really do will prevent the course of a pregnancy. She just said follow the NHS guidelines and don't beat myself up about everything. It's easier said than done I know...

Fatty12 · 18/08/2015 15:01

Hii .. As the above poster mentions, I agree it is a personal choice. You probably will have your first scan at around 12 weeks. The thoughts of a misscarraige haunt most people but the majority of times things are fine. Whatever you decide, hopefully you'll see a tiny bean whether at 12 weeks of before.

CheesyWater · 18/08/2015 15:08

There was a huge thread on this very recently. If you do an advanced search it may pop up; it has some very interesting experiences on it.

I'll give you my very honest opinion (based on one negative and two positive experiences of early scans): the scan will only reassure you for the moment you are actually being scanned. Sadly, seeing a heartbeat and what looks like a perfectly healthy baby in an early scan is no guarantee that the pregnancy will progress (of course in most cases it is a very good sign).

If you're ok with that then go for it.

BoeBarlow · 18/08/2015 15:09

Worrying is all part & parcel of pregnancy. I found after my scans at 12 and 20 weeks I would be fine for a few days and then the worrying would start again! Once baby started moving it felt a bit more reassuring but then the worrying about whether there's too much/too little movement started
Do whatever you need to do to reassure yourself though. Congratulations on your pregnancy!

CheesyWater · 18/08/2015 15:12

Here's that thread, op.

Original poster

Sophia1984 · 18/08/2015 15:21

Thanks everyone. I've got mild symptoms (I've got belly twinges and aches, my boobs are so, so sore and growing and I feel nauseous most days, especially when travelling) but it still doesn't feel real! I think it just feels too good to be true that we conceived the first month we were really trying..

I do have anxiety and in the past was a bit of a hypochondriac, so don't want to become an obsessive tester! I'll have a look at that thread. I'm going to try and wait it out and not spend the money - it's not like I have a whole bunch to throw around..

OP posts:

ComeLuckyApril · 18/08/2015 15:24

Here's the comparison for statistics: www.easybabylife.com/miscarriage-statistics-by-week.html

So if you get a scan, see a heartbeat, your chances of a miscarriage go down, but you get the best benefit numbers-wise around week 7-8.

mascaraisamust · 18/08/2015 15:30

Thanks come lucky, that's really interesting

middlings · 18/08/2015 15:33

DD1 was the result of IVF treatment so I had a 6w scan, a 9w scan when they discharged me and I think I'd a 7w scan as well as I'd had a fall and was worried.

DD2 was a spontaneous pregnancy and when I found out I was DETERMINED to wait til 12 weeks. Couldn't do it . Absolutely couldn't do it. I got to 7+6. Then I had a private scan which told me that a) there was heartbeat b) there was only one and c) the pregnancy was ectopic.

Essential? No.
Peace of mind for me? Yes.

Congratulations and good luck!

RiverTam · 18/08/2015 15:34

Do you need to pay? The early pregnancy unit in my local hospital will do early reassurance scans particularly if you have concerns. It's a drop in clinic.

middlings · 18/08/2015 15:35

My hospital doesn't do that RiverTam, they're far too under resourced.

IssyStark · 18/08/2015 15:38

Most EPUs don't offer that service rivertam

For my one I had to have a couple of m/c under my belt before they would start seeing me when I phoned up rather than wanting a referral from my GP

RiverTam · 18/08/2015 15:42

Oh really? That's a bit rubbish. Anyone can (or could, might be different now) walk into ours. It's a massive teaching hospital though, and I think early pregnancy is one of their specialities.

Runningupthathill82 · 18/08/2015 16:32

I paid for an early scan at 10 weeks because I was going on holiday and knew I wanted to know the pregnancy was looking ok before then. Also, my NHS one wasn't until almost 14 weeks.

Was it worth it? Yes, at that moment in time, but no in retrospect. It's a lot of money, and 4 weeks isn't a long time to wait in the big 40-week waiting game that is pregnancy.

Also, as pps have said, an early scan is only reassuring at that point in time. You could have one at 8 weeks and miscarry at 10 - a fact that was on my mind after the early scan.

There's lots of waiting in pregnancy, particularly when it's not your first pregnancy and you have far fewer midwife appointments. The gap between the 12 and 20 week scans seems huge.

I'd hang on if you can, and spend the £100 elsewhere. Unless you're loaded, of course, and £100 isn't a lot of money to you - in which case you have nothing to lose!

RooibosTeaAgain · 18/08/2015 18:05

My personal story is they only reassure for the time you have it. I had an early scan on the NHS with this pregnancy as my last baby was stillborn and just saw an empty sac. Caused great anxiety and had to wait nearly 3 weeks for another one, which showed all ok for now. But my last baby showed all ok in early scans but we lost him due to severe problems ( he was poorly) in 3rd trimester despite all early scans being ok. Now I find scans stressful and would rather not have them but that is just me.

RightHandRed · 18/08/2015 18:08

I paid for an early reassurance scan with both pregnancies. I had it around 8 weeks. I'd read that if you can see a heartbeat at 8 weeks the chances of a successful pregnancy are very good (over 80%?) I saw the heartbeat and it really helped me feel less anxious.

On the other hand, if something was amiss and the pregnancy wasn't viable, I figured that I'd rather know as soon as possible.

Brummiegirl15 · 18/08/2015 18:27

It's a difficult one. Yes they are reassuring, but as someone said - only at THAT moment in time. I've had 3 mcs and I lost my 3rd one after seeing a heartbeat at. 8 weeks. So it does happen.

Problem also is that a lot of places (not all though) they are literally just trained to use the equipment and they can't interpret results.

But the wait can be agonising I totally agree, so you may feel you want to. I would wait a couple of weeks though when you've got a better chance of seeing a heartbeat.

I'm now 16 weeks pregnant and already had 4 scans, my trust scan you loads after recurrent mc, I've got a couple more booked in as well and it's hugely reassuring in my situation

BieneMaja15 · 18/08/2015 21:14

I'm only 5 weeks, but we will get a private earlier scan at about 8 weeks,...if we make it that far in the first place.
I had mc/ectopic two years ago, started bleeding at 5 weeks. This time, I didn't even test until I was a week late. EPU suggested that I call them up when I got pregnant again (honestly, took two years to just get to this point again) for an early scan at 8 weeks. However, they are only open in the morning and I've just started a new job. It's not a conversation I want to have with my new boss at this stage. So we'll go private, at a more convenient time. To be honest, it'll be a miracle if we make it to 8 weeks. I've got an appointment at the fertility clinic booked for when I'd be about 14 weeks and haven't cancelled it, yet. (To be fair, we've been waiting for the appointment for nearly a year and I'm a bit worried that they'll put us back at the end of the queue, if I tell them I'm pregnant.)
I'm hoping that this one will stick. I had spotting and hardly any symptoms last time. I'm currently further than I was back then...no spotting, and I feel dizzy/queasy, have niggly pains and my boobs feel funny. My legs have been hurting for a few days, which is what usually happens when I get my period (but not for this long). I've also gone off tea, which happened last time.

TriJo · 19/08/2015 14:49

Paid £100 for one yesterday - well worth it as it moved us forward from what I thought was around 7 weeks to 9 weeks with a good health heartbeat! We were unsure on dates and were able to get the 12 week scan moved forward by one week as a result too.

Want2bSupermum · 19/08/2015 15:03

Early scans are part of your regular care for all pregnant mothers here in the Us. I thought it was a bit too much until they scanned my pelvis. From that scan my obn was able to tell me that my induction with DD1 had about a 25% chance of being successful with DD weight being measured very accurately with the 3d scan. With my son it was a 1% chance of a successful vaginal delivery so a c section was booked. My son was 10lb 6oz.

I get the impression the early scan is to look for a heartbeat only. For me this reason I would be hesitant to pay for the scan. If they do the pelvic scan I would do it for sure as you only need to do it once and there is nothing worse than being in labour to only have an emergency CS because baby struggled.

Ninoshka · 20/08/2015 21:51

Early scans are good, I had mine at 6 week. Through the scan you can hear the baby's heart beat and this can be an amazing feeling. However more important is to do urine and blood test as early as possible. Urine for protein and sugar and blood for toxoplasmosis (it's a parasite that you can get from raw meat or dirty veggies and fruits). These first basis tests will put your mind in easy and if anything is wrong, the chances are high to protect the baby.

cloudjumper · 21/08/2015 13:18

If you go for an early scan, I wouldn't recommend it before at least 8 weeks. Any earlier than that, and chances are that the scan could be inconclusive (e.g just show a sac, but no heartbeat yet) and cause even more anxiety.
Not everyone gets pregnancy symptoms, so there is a good chance that everything is OK with you. And like others have said, even if it all looks good on the early scan, things can still go wrong at a later stage, there is never any guarantee, sorry!

mrsnec · 21/08/2015 13:36

I'm consultant lead this time and have had two scans already. I also had an mc before at 10 weeks so last time didn't mind not getting scanned until late because I wanted to see as much as possible. This time at 7 weeks they didn't tell me there was a heartbeAt but that everything was ok and they ordered full bloods not just hcg so I knew they were confident. But I could barely see anything on the screen. The difference at 9 weeks was very significant and I got a picture. I would leave it as long as you possibly can.

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