Are to many scans a risk?

[cloclo92]

Are to many scans a risk?
Iv had 6 scans and I am 14 weeks pregnant.
Iv been kept a close eye on due to recurrent miscarriages, pain and bleeding. Now I'm thinking about a reassurance scan because I'm worried sick all the time!
Iv been told as long as you leave it longer than a week each time it's safe?

Anyone have any experience?

I had a high risk pregnancy last time and was scanned regularly because of it. I was told by the doctors that there were risks associated with scans, but the high risk element of my pregnancy meant the benefits outweighed the risk in that case. I personally wouldn't get a scan "just because". If something happened I'd always blame myself (even if it wasn't because of the scan)

I had tons of scans and the benefits by far ourweigh the risks.

I had in the last two months of my third baby scans twice a week to check blood flow and liquid. No harm here, she's a healthy 2yo.

I wouldn’t have a reassurance scan. But I would have every one recommended by a medical professional. Good luck with your pg OP.

I think there's a difference between mendically necessary scans e.g. monthly scans for a high risk pregnancy and the private 3D / 4D "we want a DVD to show the family" type.

OP, if your scans are medically necessary and carried out in NHS hospitals, you have no need to worry but no, you shouldn't be getting extra, private, scans just for peace of mind. You need to focus on other things - look at booking onto antenatal classes or antenatal yoga. You need to deal with the "being worried sick" through some medium other than repeated scans.

I wouldn't have a private reassurance scan, just the ones which are advised by a medical professional. Will you be wanting a reassurance scan every week? Even if it's not doing your baby any harm it cant be good for your mental health.

I had 4 scans by time I got to 12 weeks due to anxiety cause of a previous MMC and since then I've had countless scans due to restricted growth in baby, at the of pregnancy I was getting scanned every week and my nearly 2 week old is perfect. I wouldn't worry about it, I found the scans gave me great reassurance

I was scanned fortnight then weekly throughout both pregnancies from 6w due to extreme high risk. docs said no risk

Ok so it seems people are reasonably negative about them. I wouldn't ever get one as a souvenir ever.
I'm just very anxious during this pregnancy as my recurrent miscarriages & I'm yet to have any children.
I'm experiencing lots of aches & pains which I'm not sure are normal or not? I just wish there was a way to no if the baby was ok..

I had loads and my child is left-handed ( no-one in the family is). Apparently there's some research to say it's linked.

I had over 20 scans and baby was perfectly fine! They were monitoring for a potential heart problem so I had weekly scans that lasted 30-40mins during the entire second trimester (equivalent of 10 organ screenings? My actual organ screening ended up taking less time). Nobody mentioned that there was a risk and I didn't worry about it either.

Ultrasound scans use sound waves so they're not the same thing as radiation from xrays or CAT scans. I believe there's a "risk" in that the baby might be exposed to too much noise, but the inside of your body is very noisy anyway so I doubt any fetus would get lasting trauma from sound.

I'm sorry about your miscarriages and I think it's totally understandable that you are worried.
But personally, I wouldn't have any extra scans, because I'm not sure they are entirely harmless for the baby. It also sounds like having reassurance scans could become a bit of an obsession - you can't go and get scanned every day, so what's to stop you worrying the day after a scan?

I think you should try other coping mechanisms, such as meditation, yoga or even just trying to put the pregnancy out of your mind every now and then. I think when we're pregnant we have to accept a certain loss of control, if you see what I mean?

Also worth bearing in mind that the risk of miscarriage drops drastically after 12 weeks, so hopefully that will be of some comfort to you.

Once you start feeling movements you will probably feel even more reassured.
Good luck

Mild aches and pains are normal, this could be round ligament pain.
Have you discussed your fears with your midwife? It might help to write everything down before your next appointment.

@User ultrasound isn't "noise" in that, by definition, it uses frequencies outside the range of human hearing. So the fact that the body is already loud is irrelevant as the baby can't hear the ultrasound. There isnt much evidence either way but it's generally suggested that the benefit of ultrasound outweighs any potential risk.

I think I had 16 with DD. Like you, I’d had multiple mcs and was under a RMC clinic. My first scan was at 3+6 when you obviously can’t see anything at all but they make you have one before every appointment even if you’re barely pregnant. I didn’t like scans as id had so many crap ones and even the good ones only reassured me that things were fine at that moment and not 5 minutes later so I never chose to have any additional ones.

Try and find ways to manage your anxiety. Far far easier said than done I know!

The short answer is no it won’t cause harm.

However, I had a lot due to recurrent bleeding in the first trimester and I think it made my anxiety worse. I’d be ok for a day or two after and then I’d start worrying about the next one. I’d have an anxiety attack on the way to everyone. But it’s a personal decision and it may be what you need.