Reassurance Scan

[ForeverHopeful21]

I had a miscarriage at 12 weeks with my first pregnancy.

I've just found out that I'm pregnant again. I know that an early scan won't determine whether I will go on to have another miscarriage but it's something I'm very keen on doing. Does anyone know if this will be offered by the NHS? I rang the maternity unit today but spoke with a receptionist who wasn't sure. She said I'll likely have my booking appointment at 9 weeks and could ask the midwife then, but ideally I wanted a scan earlier than this.

I had a feeling that my last miscarriage was actually a MMC, as all symptoms disappeared at 9 weeks. So this time, I'd like to have a bit more control.

Sorry for your loss I was in exactly the same situation as you. Lost my first pregnancy through a MMC. The NHS don't usually offer early reassurance scans after just one MMC because it is often just simply bad luck and they don't have enough appointments. Personally in my second pregnancy I booked a private scan at around 8 weeks for reassurance. You can get them quite cheaply around £40ish.

Btw everything was fine with my second pregnancy, my LO is now 4 months old

In my experience and from what I've read, you're unlikely to get an early reassurance scan after one miscarriage. I paid privately for mine and it was worth every penny. Hope this pregnancy is smooth and uneventful for you. :)

I too will be paying for one (cheapest £70 near where I am). I am aiming to have it at about 7.5 weeks which is after when I miscarried last time.

NHS sadly won't offer early scan just for reassurance, especially after only 1 loss. They would need to feel it was justified to scan early to check baby i.e. pain or bleeding etc. But you can book private scans from as early as 6 weeks I think. And as they now common can be done without breaking the bank.

Hope your pregnancy goes smoothly. Good luck

I booked a private scan with my last pregnancy, went in at 7 weeks, but did go on to have a miscarriage at 10 weeks.
But I will deffo be going again next time! X

I was offered a reassurance scan after my booking appointment at 8 weeks after a previous miscarriage but I think it was only as I'd had some pain and spotting. Otherwise I think like others have said I would've had to go privately (which I did for another scan anyway at 11 weeks). Good luck x

Similar to yourself. I paid £40 at my local private clinic for a reassurance scan at 9 weeks. NHS wouldn't even consider offering one and I know that so was happy to pay for it.

I'm glad I did. Although no guarantee it was lovely to see something.

Thank you for the replies. I've had a look at private clinics and I'm happy to pay the £80 - £110 that they charge near where I live. Wasn't really expecting an early scan from the NHS anyway ...was more hoping that they might offer. But that's ok.
I know it doesn't change whatever may happen after scan, but I just don't feel like I can go 12 - 13 weeks without knowing anything.

AnUtterIdiot I never had a scan. My NHS scan was booked at 12 weeks and 4 days and I never made it that far, therefore have no measurements and no idea when the baby died.

So basically I took myself to a&e 22nd June with bleeding they told me everything was fine cause a pregnancy test came back positive and to go home, so I rang my midwife arranged a same day scan found out baby had no heart beat and stopped developing at 8 weeks. Got admitted to hospital 23rd as insane pain and had to go through the labour, was bleeding for 1/2 weeks then stopped done a pregnancy test after leaving hospital (negative) then was in hospital for sprained back 17th July done a preg test then (negative) since miscarriage I've had no bleeding/cramps nothing, however no pregnancy symptoms either so done preg test a week ago (positive) and then 2 clear blues (positive: 1-2 weeks) two days later (positive 2-3 weeks) surely it can't be hormones from the miscarriage? Help? Just scared to get my hopes up and my gp has given me nothing to go on except to say "just wait and see"

@Bettabye267 If you had a negative and have now had several positives (including increasing results on a digital) then it's almost certainly a new pregnancy - congratulations!

Next time you should start your own thread (using the 'new thread' button at the button of the forum) as you're more likely to get responses than if you reply unrelatedly on someone else's thread. :)

I would definitely book the private scan. I had a mc with my 2nd pregnancy and we have a private scan then (at 8 weeks), which showed a missed mc. Even when the outcome wasn't positive, I was incredibly grateful to have been able to prepare and process what was happening. We got pregnant again straight away and I had another private scan with this one at 7 weeks. All was fine and especially with the mc being so fresh and raw, it was so reassuring. It's very worth the relatively minor expense for the peace of mind and really helped me to continue to heal from the mc.

I'm in the same boat as you at the moment. Took a test after miscarriage and it was negative. Didn't have a period and now testing positive. I've got my dr appt on the 31st but I think I might opt for a private scan as I doubt it'll be givem on the NHS in my area.

Previous msg was for Bettabye267

I think it depends which area you are in. I had a MC at 8 weeks last year and I was told by the EPU if I fell pregnant again i would get a reassurance scan at 8 weeks and to ring them. I am currently 37 weeks and at 8 weeks I called the EPU as instructed and they gave me a reassurance scan without any issues.

I've been seen by my local EPUs in all four of my pregnancies for reassurance scans, they have been absolutely wonderful (and I'm in London, so very busy hospitals).

My first mmc was in 2013, and I just had a gut feeling something was up, self referred and sure enough there was no heartbeat found. Got pregnant nine months later, and was extremely anxious, so my gp referred me to the EPU for an early scan at 8.5 weeks, all fine (although it only reassured me for about 24 hours), and I went on to have my DD.

I got pregnant again last October, booked a private scan at 8 weeks, heartbeat present but measurements too small for my dates. Two further scans at EPU which eventually confirmed another mmc. Pregnant again six weeks after my ERPC, anxiety through the sodding roof, EPU gave me three reassurance scans at 8, 9 and 11 weeks and all looked fine, but then anomalies were seen at our dating scan and we had an eventual diagnosis of T13 and our baby died at 14 weeks.

I suppose what my history shows, is that you can have all the early scans in the world, but it probably won't change the outcome of a pregnancy that isn't going to progress, and in fact they only allayed my fears temporarily. Where possible problems were picked up, standard procedure is to re-scan a week or two later, so you then find yourself in an awful limbo hoping for the best but expecting the worst. The only benefit for me in finding out that there was something wrong earlier, was that I could have surgical intervention sooner and crack on with ttc again. I should add, that I was very unlucky, and most of the issues with my pregnancies are probably due to my age (43), so I don't want to cause any anxiety.

Good luck op, pregnancy after mc is tough (but worth it).

I was similar. Had a MMC before my official scan - started bleeding at about 10 weeks and got the sad news. It was my second pregnancy as I already had my eldest.

So I paid for a reassurance scan and the relief of seeing our DD was immense :) I didn't quite relax until 20 weeks and even then until she was born.

Now she's 5 and the MMC pain has long faded.

Wish you all the best!