Early scans: good or bad idea?

[Monipop84]

I am 6 + 3 weeks today and debating whether to get an early scan. My doctor seems to think that it's a waste of time and money and sometimes makes people feel upset or unnecessarily worried - because there might be no heartbeat, as it's too early, etc. Lots of people seem to get these scans though and as we have started telling close friends,it makes me nervous that "I don't know what's in there" (I know, first pregnancy, excuse my silliness ) What is your experience with early scans and would you recommend one?

I had one with both pregnancies and would do again. In this pregnancy I had some brown spotting so that was the main reason, we wanted to tell our first child and in that respect the scan was helpful. Bear in mind though that it will only reassure you for a few days, and then you'll probably go back to worrying if you are the worrying type.
You also won't see anything you recognise as a baby at an early scan. My most recent was at 7+4, there is a heartbeat but before 12 weeks, baby is just a blob.
Final tip - my most recent internal scan was not done by a "slim wand" (which is the wording Mumsnet uses) but a massive cone-shaped thing. Sonographers are not shy either So just be prepared for that if you do decide to go.

Unless you are going through IVF or have a previous miscarriage I wouldnt bother.

After my miscarriage my subsequent pregnancy was scanned and ok at 9 weeks however it gave me peace and reassurance for all of about ) hours before I convinced myself that it would all be over at the 12 weeks scan.

It’s a very personal thing but wait, please wait until week 8 else you may not get a heartbeat read and that would melt your brain.

Pregnancy is a minefield of anxiety for some so be careful not to invite more - congrats tho. X

I would if I needed to get the pregnancy dated or felt anxious. I can certainly see why women have them done. Personally, I wanted to wait until my 12 week scan though, as I thought it’d be exciting and there would be more to see.

I do find some of the private ultrasound clinics a bit dodgy. There’s one near me that’s in a room in a leisure centre and they’re always on Groupon. I suppose if you’re going to get bad news, maybe it doesn’t matter so much, I’d rather be in a hospital though.

I've had them in both pregnancies, but I've always waited until 8 weeks so that I could be sure of a heartbeat being seen and the stats for miscarrying after a HB being seen at 8 weeks dramatically reduce.

Absolute waste, was referred for one due to recurrent miscarriage and it was intended to reassure me. The first scan we had at 6 weeks showed no heartbeat and I was devastated. We were told to come back 10 days later and we had a fetal pole measuring a week behind albeit with a heartbeat. Got to 12 week scan and baby was measuring a week ahead! Am 25 weeks now with a healthy baby that’s kicking me as I type!!

Godsend I think, I had 5 ivf cycles and a MMC so was really nervous and had scans at 5/6/7/8/9/10/12/15/20/30 (I think) they helped me loads

Oh yeah and I had to endure an internal scan where the sonographer couldn’t get the wand in and I was asked in front of 3 people whether I struggled with intercourse! As I was pregnant at the time, I thought it would be evident that I didn’t!

I had an early scan followed by a miscarriage and was devestated. Seeing everything on screen at 6 weeks made it seem more RealAudio therefore more difficult to deal with. My doctor wants me to have one at 7 weeks this time but I am holding out for later because I will be terrified if anything is wrong or. They c@nt find a heart beat and I have to go back the following week.

Holy crap, I need to proofread!

RealAudio = real and

or. They c@nt = or they can’t

I've had early scans in my last and current pregnancy. The first due to heavy bleeding (which was an SCH) and the second due to spotting for weeks and some red blood. Both times all was ok,but I had 2 losses beforehand, so was particularly nervous as I'd seen blood in both pregnancies. I think if I had just waited, I would have gone crazy. Expecting to miscarry any minute and potentially being stuck at work was very difficult to deal with, so needed reassurance for my own sanity.

I'm only 10 weeks now, so definitely not in a safe period yet (although unfortunately in pregnancy, there isn't one, but the probability decreases). I know anything could still happen, but I found it helpful to know that at that point in time all was looking good. As for bonding, I didn't really find a scan helpful, as it I'm still getting my head around this pregnancy and the changes it will bring. It is hideous MS that is making this pregnancy seem real!!