Unable to complete heart anomaly check at second attempt...

[peaky297]

Hello everyone.
I’m just looking for some advice / reassurance. I had my 20 week scan a couple of weeks ago and everything was checked and written up as fine, apart from the heart as they could not get a good enough view of it. As such, I went back yesterday (at 22+6) for a further scan on the heart. Once again the baby was in a poor position and refusing to move out of it. This combined with an anterior placenta and me being on the chubby side meant that that whilst they could see the parts of the heart, parts of it were unclear so they couldn’t complete the checks. The sonographer did say that what they can see is fine, but they need images to prove their work and so the test result is inconclusive due to a poor foetal position. No referral has been made and they have said that unless a doctor requests it they won’t try and check the heart again. This of course is a worry for DH and I… Realistically, if there was something really wrong they probably would have seen it and referred me, but us pregnant ladies need all the reassurance we can get! has anyone else experienced this? Any words of wisdom welcomed!

I think this is common compared to when I had my older daughter 3 years. As the sonography technology has improved in the last couple of years they are looking for finer details which can be difficult if the baby is not being cooperative.

I would ask your GP for another referral. I don't understand the logic in them repeating the scan once and then deciding not to have another attempt. Either they're satisfied that everything is fine or they're not. The likelihood is that everything is OK but some anomalies can be really difficult to see so if it was me I'd want them to try again.

How chunky are you? My BMI was high ish (I'm a 14/16) and they struggled first time.

When my mum was pregnant with me they thought I'd be born with a valve missing but here I am 26 years later alls good

I would ask, and keep asking, for another scan.

My niece was born with a very serious heart defect which was picked up on the scan but 50% of the time it isn't. She was very lucky because she was extremely poorly at birth and thanks to the scan info her mum was induced early and they had a team standing by for her.

Personally I wouldn't be satisfied to just wait until the baby was born. If there is something wrong (which is rare) you want to be ready.

Were you given the opportunity to move around, jump etc to try and get the baby to move? Was your bladder full? At my 20 week scan the sonographer couldn’t see part of the face and so made me walk constantly for 20-30mins. Baby fell asleep and then moved to the right when she pressed the wand. As others have said, I wouldn’t take no for an answer and would go private if the NHS refuses.

I'm in exactly the same position. I spoke to a consultant yesterday who said that if there was something seriously wrong then it's likely something else would have been affected and everything else looks perfect. I'm having growth scans and they're going to check again then. Ask your midwife if you can speak to a consultant, they could discuss any concerns and may be able to help. I priced a private scan and it was £230. We just can't afford that.