First scan to be at 13 weeks? Even though I have a blood disorder.

[ttcchapter1]

I have my booking in appt over the phone on Sunday but received my letter today to say my scan would be on the 22nd of July. A little concerned as I have a blood disorder called grey platelet syndrome and I'm have history of very low iron. When I initially spoke to the midwife she said this may warrant for a slightly earlier scan hopefully around 6-10 weeks.

But this appointment means I'll be 13 weeks!

My scan was moved once I'd had my booking appointment to ensure it was done when I was over 12 weeks. I think they're just generated automatically at first based on your EDD. I'm sure if you flag it to the midwife she can check and reschedule if necessary.

A normal routine scan is called a 12 weeks scan but lots are still done in the 13th week but if you think you'd need one early I'd just phone the community midwife team and ask them but as it stands having a scan at 13 weeks is quite common, both of mine were done at 13 weeks x

What do you think they're going to see on a scan that relates to your iron level, though? 13 weeks is within the normal bounds for a dating scan and the purpose of the scan is to fix your due date and to scan for any major abnormalities/screen for chromosomal disorders. The scan should be done between 11+0 and 13+6 for maximum accuracy in dating.

If your iron is likely to get low or you have symptoms of low iron you need a blood iron test, not a scan.

I think it sounds very normal, most extra scans for medical conditions happen later in pregnancy and are normally for assessing fetal growth, usually start around 28 weeks

@hauntedgoatfart

Well, I was told by the gp I may be more likely to have a mmc because of the disorder. So thats why I was keen to have an earlier scan. So don't automatically assume everyone is the same.

Why don’t you query it with your GP then or call the EPAU, the likelihood is that the EPAU will know more than your GP regarding a scan. It’s probably that the midwife has discussed it with the relevant people and they’ve said a normally dating scan is fine, no harm in calling.

If you were at risk of ectopic then an early scan would make sense, but a MMC could happen to anyone at anytime so a scan wouldn’t prevent it, you could always book a private one for your peace of mind

@ttcchapter1 is this your first pregnancy? I also have a blood disorder that can sometimes cause miscarriage, but I didn’t get an earlier scan until I’d had 3 miscarriages. Also, due to the blood disorder I was referred to the consultant (at my booking appointment) but didn’t see them until I was around 18 weeks, and they don’t want to scan me again until I’m 28 weeks.
Unfortunately the scan is only a moment in time, anything could happen after the scan (I had a MMC at 11 weeks after a great 8 week scan)
Could you ask your GP for a blood test?

You might get another letter. Dating scans are normally done around 12 weeks which 13 is fairly standard. Early scans don't generally get used for dating.

The eligibility for early scans done at hospitals are usually if you have a history of 3 or more miscarriages, my early pregnancy unit wouldn't see me till I'd had 3 miscarriages, I also went through a missed miscarriage, it can happen to anyone.

Theres nothing they can do if a missed miscarriage was to happen, there's very little pre-treatment thats proven to work

If you're concerned you could book a private early scan

Dating scans are done between 11 and 14 weeks (mine was at 13+6) so that's totally normal for a first nhs scan but, if you were told to expect an earlier one, I would give them a quick call and query it incase there has been an error.

If not, as others have said, you could always look into booking an early private scan around 8-10 week.