Best time for early scan, 6 or 8 weeks?

[Lilly950]

Hiya,

I’m considering getting an early scan privately, mainly to calm my anxiety and check all is well as I have no appointments until I get a call at 10 weeks, I will be 6+3 on 23rd Dec which would be nice as I would feel more comfortable announcing to family on Christmas Day if all goes well but wondering if results are better when I’m 8 weeks as baby would have developed more? Does it make much difference in 2 weeks?

TIA XX

I had a private scan at 9 weeks but they said 8 weeks was the minimum as you cant see much before then. I would wait till 8 weeks if you can. 6 weeks wont pick up a heartbeat I dont think. I could be wrong.

At 6 weeks baby and everything it's really small. And if you're maybe even a few days less than you think they might not see anything.
All this might make you more anxious than calm down.

Most places don't scan before 7 weeks.

My suggestion is 8 weeks, as baby it's bigger and you can see easier a heartbeat.

If you can afford both, do them, but don't get disappointed if at the 6 weeks one you don't see much.

I had an early scan (at just over 6w) as I was planning to change jobs and didn't want to turn down the new job if my pregnancy wasn't viable. Unfortunately although there was a perfectly formed sac they couldn't see a foetus. It meant waiting in limbo for a couple of weeks until I started to miscarry, not knowing if it was just that I'd ovulated later than I thought or if there was an issue.
It sort of meant that the whole experience of miscarrying seemed to go on for ages, if that makes sense? Whereas if I'd have waited, I wouldn't have known there was a problem until it actually started.

Ultimately the scan won't make any difference to whether or not you have a successful pregnancy. Having an earlier scan makes it less likely you'll see a heartbeat though, which may cause unnecessary anxiety.

8 weeks. At 6 it's a crapshoot whether baby is displaying a heartbeat and if you ovulated even a few days later than you thought, or implanted late, you won't be able to see anything meaningful.

Tbh, if my announcing was dependent on a scan, even if I'd seen a heartbeat at 6 weeks I wouldn't want to announce then as you'd still have a long way to go to 12 weeks. I would suggest you either decide to tell your family because you'd want them to know even if it ends in miscarriage, or you wait until 8 weeks for a viability scan and then tell them. Your choice and your life though.

Thank you for all your replies! Really appreciate the insight as this is my first pregnancy and not sure what to expect!

@CmdrCressidaDuck my announcement is absolutely not dependent on a scan and I will announce Christmas Day regardless, I just thought it might of been a nice surprise to put one in a card for my parents 😊

6 weeks can be really ambiguous - I am consultant led so had a scan at 6+2 and they did see heartbeats (and twins!) which was wonderful but even then, they had questions on what they were seeing and booked me in again for a week later. At 7+2 I couldn’t believe how much more could be seen. I’d say to anyone try and hold out for 7-8 weeks, it’s so much clearer and less guess work involved!

I had an emergency scan at 6 weeks as they suspected an ectopic pregnancy. All was fine.

But you can’t even make out that it’s a baby, my scan literally looks like someone smudged their thumb in the ink as it was printed.

I’d wait until 8 weeks if you feel you need an early scan.

I had a scan at 6 weeks simply because I didn’t know how far along I was. I could see something and I could also see the heartbeat flickering. The scan picture literally looks like a grain of rice though

8 weeks - should definitely be a heartbeat at this stage in a viable pregnancy (as sometimes it's abit hit and miss with 6-7wks) - plus the risk of miscarriage dramatically decreases then

I didn’t have a 6 week scan but my 8 week scan is attached. A clear kidney bean with an obvious heartbeat!

@Bol87 yours is so clear!! My pictures are awful compared to that😆😂

I’ve been really lucky this pregnancy with scans! My first pregnancy in 2016/17 they are all blurry as hell but this time, I’ve had some crackers both NHS & private! Seems to be a pot luck, my friend whose a couple weeks behind me pregnancy wise has had pretty rubbish ones at the same hospital

I had a 6 week scan and an 8 week scan. The 6 week scan ended up internal as baby was too small to see external so defo 8 weeks. Most places won't scan until at least 7 weeks too

I had a 6 week and there was a sac but nothing else, then an 8 week and it was miles better heartbeat etc!