Can an early transvaginal ultrasound cause miscarriage?

[MinesALatte]

I’ve been reading lots of posts of people that miscarried not long after their TV ultrasound and am having a bit of a panic as I’ve got one booked in a week when I’m 7 weeks. There seems to be conflicting studies and comments and I’ve already had one miscarriage so don’t want to go through it again if I can prevent it.

You would usually only be offered an early scan if there was a significant medical reason.

That in itself might mean that you were more likely to miscarry - ie it's the reason for the scan that is the factor. Not the scan itself.

Sorry I forgot to mention it’s a private scan

No - absolutely no way it will cause a miscarriage - the person above is right, many people get an early scan because of a problem e.g. bleeding that ends in a miscarriage.... or unfortunately a number of pregnancies end in the earlier stages anyway so it is just coincidental that you had a scan and then lost it.

Go for the scan if it puts your mind at rest. I had 10 TV scans before I was 10 weeks - now 23 weeks and baby fine.

I don't know if it is still the case but when I had fertility treatment we all had an early, 6 week, scan
If they caused miscarriage it would massively impact on fertility success rates but it doesn't.

They wouldnt be allowed to perform the scan if there was a huge risk of miscarriage, I've had TV scans and I've found sex to be more invasive than them, the probe doesn't go in far at all

Sorry to hear about your loss. I've never heard of internal scans causing miscarriage. I've had a lot of internal scans over the years as I've had multiple miscarriages so I am always under the early pregnancy unit care. For my successful pregnancies, I've never had any issues with the scans, no bleeding or anything. My miscarriages were not connected to the scans either, the scans just confirmed things weren't viable. In all my reading about miscarriages (and believe me I've done a lot!) I've never stumbled on any association between the two. Also I wouldn't think I'd have been given so many internal scans because of my miscarriages if there was any risk they could cause miscarriage as it just wouldn't make sense from a care perspective. Also people who have IVF have early internal scans and again, I wouldn't think they'd do them if there was any risk of miscarriage given the expense and gruelling process that women have to endure.

If you're very worried though, speak to whoever you're due to have your scan with and if you're still concerned you can always decline it. With my current pregnancy I had abdominal scans from about 8.5 weeks so you could just wait a couple of weeks and have one abdominally if you're still worried (although the abdominal one wasn't as clear as my internal scans it was clear enough to measure the growth and see the heartbeat).

Good luck with your pregnancy whatever you decide.

Internal scans to not cause miscarriage.

No, no impact at all. The 'probe' (or whatever it's called) only goes in the tiniest bit so nowhere near your cervix or uterus and it's not painful or uncomfortable at all.
I had an early TV scan around 6/7 weeks and I'm now 32+3

@scaevola

You would usually only be offered an early scan if there was a significant medical reason.

That in itself might mean that you were more likely to miscarry - ie it's the reason for the scan that is the factor. Not the scan itself.

Exactly this.

The fertility clinic we were under with DS did a 7 week TV scan, presume all fertility clinics do early scans. I think if there was even the tiniest hint of a risk, the clinics just wouldn’t carry these out- after all it doesn’t really change the outcome at that early stage, so they’d advise waiting a few weeks so you could have an abdominal one. I wasn’t looking forward to it as I find smears so uncomfortable, but it was nothing like that, I barely felt it.

No.

You absolutely have no clinical evidence to support your "opinion" so please do not advise others in absolute terms.

There are plenty of anecdotal stories to support a theory that "with some people" early ultrasounds create more risk and could potentially cause miscarriage.

We don't have ANY EVIDENCE for OR against. Other than fertility clinics who want to tell you it's crazy to even think that this could be the case.

So, stop guaranteeing what you can't fairly and honestly guarantee.

Not a,rusk
But
You don't t have to have the scan.
Why don't you wait til 12 weeks?

For all the people who say it's not invasive, I disagree. It was terribly invasive. Maybe they did it in error? I don't know. But I miscarried and I'll never know if it was because of this. I'll never do one again.

I advise against it.

An early ultrasound does nothing to prevent anything. So, why do it?

And, the fertility industry would NEVER come out and ever allow there to be evidence or proof that they've caused so many miscarriages.

So, you do you at your own risk and own choices.

But, never let anyone tell you anything in absolutes when they have no, absolutely NO proof one way or the other.

The probe is inserted into the vagina up to the cervix. The foetus is very safely separated from the probe by the tightly shut cervix. There would be the same amount of risk as scanning over the top of your tummy.

There is very limited research.
The guidance is to use TVU for clinical reasons only. Ultrasound is not without risk.

www.researchgate.net/profile/Michiel-Van-Den-Hof/publication/7659127_Obstetric_ultrasound_biological_effects_and_safety/links/00b49516d3b2f8027b000000/Obstetric-ultrasound-biological-effects-and-safety.pdf

Even if there is a small risk which there is...I wouldn't do it. I wish I never did it. Passed something through the next day. I wish someone told me. I'd still have my baby

Consult a medical professional, don’t listen to anyone here.
Having looked at a few links and data, I’d say it’s extremely unlikely that this exam would cause a miscarriage. It’s not going in your womb, it’s going in your vagina.

@Suzi888

Consult a medical professional, don’t listen to anyone here. Having looked at a few links and data, I’d say it’s extremely unlikely that this exam would cause a miscarriage. It’s not going in your womb, it’s going in your vagina.

That isn’t quite right.

The ultrasound probe goes into the vagina. The Ultrasound is the high frequency sound waves that go through the uterus and other organs to produce a reflected image. The ultrasonic waves go into the uterus and foetus.

Guidance is minimal use for specific clinical need.

Using them as a camera is, at best, unwise. That said, there is no research around early ultrasound and miscarriage. The simple truth is that nobody knows and Keepsake providers are unlikely to fund research that does them out of a livelihood.
All keepsake providers should be ensuring women know that their ‘scan for a picture’ isn’t recommended and that the risks are unknown.

If you think that ultrasound is used clinically to interact with tissues in the body such that they are either modified or destroyed, it reminds us that they are not simply cameras.
Among the body modifications possible with ultrasound are: moving or pushing tissue, heating tissue or dissolving blood clots. These destructive, or ablative, functions are made possible by use of very high-intensity beams that can destroy diseased or abnormal tissues such as tumours.