Did you take your current child to first scan??

[Summersun8383]

Hi just got my scan date through and had it in my head that I wanted my DS to come with us so we make sure he's involved the whole way but the letter says they don't advise children to come. He's very well behaved and would just sit while she did it so he wouldn't distract her but don't want to get into trouble for taking him lol! Has anyone else taken their child to the first scan?

@codenameduchess

I think you are naive. You would be surprised how many single mothers without support there are out there. Really, you would.

We had to redo the 20 week scan at 22 weeks due to one measurement they couldn't get and brought ds along to that
He was 4 at the time and his little mind was blown it was lovely

Wouldn't have taken him to the 20 week scan without knowing if everything was ok

It is it massively common for a single parent with no support whatsoever to have got pregnant 12 weeks previously though? Of course it happens that relationships break down and the man does a runner but I don’t imagine it’s something we should expect of all women who rock up to a scan with their children in tow?

What will they do in labour? That's somewhat longer and less predictable than a scan, but they sort that with 'no support'. I know a lot of single parents and they all have friends or family in some form who could sit with a child for an hour if needed. The actual cases of no support or options at all are far fewer than being made out here...

The point of this is that a scan is not a bonding opportunity and should not be treated as such, it is a necessary medical procedure. Most posters on this thread agree.

No I wouldn't. We had worrying news at our 12 week scan for DD (high NT measurement, 1 in 49 odds of Downs, talk of a possible heart defect) and luckily DS was at school. I was a wreck as it had come as a complete shock after a healthy scan at 7 weeks. Thankfully the Harmony results a week later came back fine but the 12 week scan was a huge shock. We still had to have further scans to rule out a heart defect. I absolutely wouldn't take another child to a scan. Some of my later scans fell during the summer holidays so I had DP stay at home with DS. An idea could be that once the 12 and 20 week scans are out the way and you know everything is okay, then book a private scan so your DS can be included.

Entitled to and able to take are different things. We had appointments changed last minute from 9am to 5pm. Tried to schedule on DH's day off only for it to be changed again.

DH is in a medical profession- taking time off depends on who else is available- I had to take both kids to the children's assessment unit when younger one was not feeding/peeing because DH couldn't get out of work on time as no one else could see an emergency.

Labour wise we'd planned that DH's parents would stay with us from 37 weeks onwards. Tediously they got ill and had about a million hospital appointments over that period so false alarm labour (Sat pm I think) we managed to nab some (working) friends, Monday afternoon reduced movements childminder had as an emergency and eventual induction was luckily in a 3 day window my ILs had between appointments. Was kinda stressful.

We got our stressful (high risk DS screen) over the phone with DD present- too young to understand then- wouldn't be now.

We had to redo the 20 week scan at 22 weeks due to one measurement they couldn't get and brought ds along to that
He was 4 at the time and his little mind was blown it was lovely

A similar thing happened to me but then at 22 weeks I was informed thar DS2 had died. People can be just so staggering naive, most wouldn’t want to take the chance at your child’s mind being ‘blown’ in a horrific way.

I did. It was the 12 week scan and I brought DD.
I had to reschedule because no children were allowed.
I'm glad it got rebooked because we had lost the baby and I really would have found it difficult with DD there.

I had a mmc discovered at my first scan for my first pregnancy, I was devastated and there is no way I could have dealt with a child while the sonographer was asking me to go and empty a third of my bladder (walking through the waiting room of expectant mums to get to the toilet)/calm down/move into different positions/doing a transvaginal scan/ to try and see what was going on/giving me information about the prognosis and next steps. Now XH (we did have a DD before that happened) was also occupied with his own feelings and looking after me. It’s a medical procedure not a family trip.

Amazing how many people on the thread who say they didn't have childcare but came to the scan with their partner. The partner is the childcare. In an ideal world they'd go to the scan but things are not always ideal.

Single mums with absolutely no childcare must have someone for when they're in labour?

My friend scanned someone who was 35 weeks and had brought their 5 yr old with them. The baby had died and that poor child was traumatised.

Just don't bring children to your scan. It's that simple.
NHS trusts don't have a no child policy just to be mean. It's a medical procedure not a family outing.

The hospital I used clearly said no children on the scan appointment letter.

I'm firmly in the Don’t take kids unless all childcare options are extinguished camp.

Luckily my Scans for dc2 came up when dc1 was at Nursery.