Has anyone here refused to have an ultrasound?

[FairyLights2]

I was just wondering if anyone here has ever chosen to NOT have an ultrasound. Doctors instead used blood tests and a fetoscope to check the health of the baby.

Has anyone gone down that route? If so, how did it go?

I’m having growth and Doppler scans every week as my placenta is failing slowly and my baby isn’t growing.

I’ve also got a fucking batshit midwife who keeps bombarding me with conflicting information and telling me constantly that I don’t have to have these scans and that I have a choice. Yes, it’s my choice to have them. They could save my baby from still birth. She won listen.

I’ve put in a complaint to the hospital and won’t be seeing her again. She’s driving me nuts with her own agenda.

Nope!!
My baby had IUGR and I needed regular scans to ensure that there wasn't too much or too little fluid and to ensure good blood flow to the placenta.
If I declined USS then my placenta could have been deteriorating and I lost my baby

@FairyLights2 I'm sorry but the info you found is a lot of speculation by not a medical professional. If you look at medical studies there is no link or evidence of ultrasound being risky. Millions of women do it and the ones with risk factors multiple times during pregnancy, in other countries women do it as early as 6w on a regular basis and the % of missed miscarriages is not higher in those countries. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20393955/

I had scans at 12, 20 and 36 weeks and I would do it again.

We had good experiences, but also I was born with a heart condition. It was repaired when I was a baby but due to the nature of it, DS had a special heart scan at 20 weeks. That's not something you can check without an ultrasound.

The NHS advises against “souvenir” ultrasounds because of the minimal research around any potential risks. They unequivocally state that the diagnostic ultrasounds that they provide are safe. The “souvenir” ultrasounds tend to be longer than the NHS diagnostic ones and often 3D so there is more exposure. There are unconfirmed reports that “souvenir” scans have lead to neurological issues which need to be researched. There are also some concerns around a lack of regulations to ensure their safety; when a procedure is done for medical reasons it is regulated as such but a “souvenir” scan isn’t.

I appreciate this isn’t what you asked but I think it’s a relevant and interesting point.

Why on earth would you do this op?

Ah sorry have read thread now!
Interesting point @Babs709

@SmiledWithTheRisingSun I wish I could edit the OP. I came across the article and was surprised. I wondered if anyone here actually did that and if so, how did it make them feel etc. I've already booked my scan. This was never about me. I just brought the subject to the table.

@Babs709 Thank you for bringing some relevancy that might answer why some women hesitate about ultrasounds in general. Maybe those studies is where there fear stems from and they then question ultrasounds altogether.

I wouldn’t even take advice on how to bake a cake from a homeopath, let alone anything that impacts the health of my baby.

@Viletta Thanks for sharing a credible source.

I just want to publicly say: I am not against ultrasounds and have one booked for myself. I'm just someone who likes to hear different perspectives - that is all.

I'm appreciative of everyone who contributed so positively to my question. I just hope that some of the 'harsher' replies haven't put off any women sharing their story, which might be the same as what I read in that thread.

This should be a safe place for anyone. It's fine to disagree but we can all do that compassionately.

I chose not to have an ultrasound with my first, over 20 years ago. It had taken nearly 3 years to get pregnant and I knew I wouldn't terminate the pregnancy. At the time, there was also some research that suggested there might be issues (higher number of left handed in babies scanned 3 or more times, iirc). Second and third pregnancies I had 12 week only to check for anomalies because once you have a child they need to be considered in any decision about subsequent children. All fine. But I'm still amazed how excited people are by scans - they're done to pick up problems so I found them challenging.

I've also known a fair few people who've had enormously anxious pregnancies because of things 'picked up' on scans which resulted in, often, frequent scans and interventions etc which didn't seem to be borne out in the end - so twins delivered early because one was failing to grow (turned out to be the bigger twin), cord round neck (not at delivery) and too many 'pptential placenta previas' to count. Hopefully these are less prevalent because experience has improved understanding, but they had a significant impact on the couples affected, and their pregnancies were unnecessarily stressful.

I can't remember when it first occurred to me, but in general I avoid asking questions unless I'm ready for the answer or the consequences of the answer and I've found it's served me pretty well.

I wouldn’t call the replies harsh. It’s important to call out articles written by homeopaths that can negatively impact the health of women and babies (or anyone, for that matter). Someone could come along and read that article without looking at the replies and take it as peer reviewed medical science. It’s so important to check the source before sharing.

I don’t see any harsh replies.

There is a trend for misinformation to be shared online. I think it should always be called out.

I support choice and know people who have made an informed choices continue PGA’s with known or potential anomalies. However, 90%+ of women confronted with serious anomaly found on us do choose to terminate, as is their right.

I wouldn’t want anyone to be frightened about having us and as a result left providing 24 hour care for a gravely disabled child if that wasn’t something they were happy to do.

Actually, studies of recurrent mc sufferers have shown that the more scans and medical appointments they have the less likely they are to miscarry. Which I believe is thought to be due to the psychological reassurance effect of good medical care.

For anyone who has had a mmc found on a 12 months scan, as I have, scans will always be a stressful and worrying time, but I am so grateful to have access to good ultrasound scanning and seeing the baby’s heartbeat each time with my subsequent pgs was reassuring.

Pgs not PGAs

I honestly wouldn’t trust something written on a website by someone calling themselves “a fertility homeopath”. Ultrasounds are safe, they are scientifically proven to be safe. People just like to object to everything even if it’s something that could save your child’s life.

I came across a woman in the US on Instagram who had taken that route for her pregnancy so no ultrasounds, fetoscope only, with homeopathy and essential oils as recommended by her holistic fertility expert followed by a 40 hour labour at 42 weeks with no medical assistance or oversight. She sadly gave birth to a severely disabled child with a very short life expectancy.

The people who take that article seriously are the ones currently wearing tin hats.

@FairyLights2 I‘ve never personally known anyone who is hesitant about ultrasounds. I am not sure if you were hesitant or not; I got the impression you’d found this article when researching more about what an ultrasound was etc (forgive me if I’m wrong). I think it’s really important to understand what medical procedure you are signing yourself (and your unborn baby!) up for. And there is nothing wrong with bringing the conversation to a forum if you’ve found something worth discussing. But as PP said... there’s a lot of shit online! I stick to NHS information personally, but I doubt the need to advise you to do that (hoping most people would anyway?)

My own research on those souvenir scans was because they seem very common and I was curious. Having read more about them (and certainly finding out the NHS warm against them), I do worry about their prominence.

I paid for a 'souvenir' 3d scan for my second. Mainly because I had so many US scans for medical reasons I wanted one that was all just about looking at the baby....
They found a serious issue with my placenta and umbilical cord and she was delivered the same week at 29 weeks. It saved her life. I never did get the fancy 3d print out but got told to go straight to the hospital. To be fair it would have been picked up on at the next scan (I had them every two weeks) but it may have been too late.

Had I declined ultrasounds, my son and I would both be dead as I had both vasa previa, placenta previa and placenta accreta. So I would strongly advise against going that route.

I had no risk factors and my pregnancy was comfortable and perfect. Nothing could have been detected without an ultrasound. Even with full preparation by my obgyn, the OR team, and the blood bank, I did end up in the ICU. Without a well prepared team my son and I would have bled out in minutes.