2nd Pregnancy after 1st with Spina Bifida

[xxlucybxx]

Just found out I'm pg (very early days) but my last baby was born with a severe NTD/spina bifida which I was aware of since my 20 wk scan (carried out late at 22 weeks) resulting in a medical termination.

I have just found out im pregnant again but obviously we are keen to pick anything up ASAP, as it was horrific finding out that late.

Has anyone been through something similar, will I get extra scans and tests? Is there anything I can do privately?

I think they suggest a higher dose of folic acid. if you haven't taken already maybe talk to doctor or pharmacist

Not speaking from personal experience but a friend of mine has a child with spina bifida. In her subsequent pregnancies she was referred to the Fetal medicine unit for additional scans (not sure about other tests but I know she got extra scans at least, one was around 15 weeks). Her subsequent children haven’t got spina bifida. I don’t know much else though, sorry.

I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for you to go through I wish you all the best in your pregnancy!

Thanks both, yes taking the higher prescription on folic acid, believe it or not I didn't even know you needed to take it the first time round, no one told me until my 1st midwife appointment!

Im really hoping I get extra scans and its reassuring to see they looked after your friend @nov19

Hello! This happened to me last year. Picked up at 21 weeks then medical termination. I’m so sorry this happened to you. We went through hell and back. Finally life started to look up when we found out we were expecting again in March this year. Now 36 weeks! The only difference I got - I’m in Scotland - so may differ from where you are, was an extra ‘target’ scan at 16 weeks. And I was on higher dose folic acid for atleast 3 months before. I’ve since stopped since I found out all was okay as it does nothing after 12 weeks anyway. Apart from that the treatment is pretty much the same. Which after going through all that is a relief to have a normal pregnancy with normal treatment. It’s a long wait til 16 weeks but they really can not tell for sure at 12 weeks if the neural tubes have closed properly so you need to wait it out. Hope this helps. And good luck! 💐

Thanks for taking the time to reply Emm so pleased to hear you have come out of the other side, it’s a tough journey that’s for sure!
I don’t trust the 12 week scan at all after what happened last time. Hopefully I’m on the same path as you.
Good luck with baby