Early scan - good or bad idea?

[periwinkle86]

Hi all,

I got my BFP earlier this week and should be five weeks tomorrow based on my last period. It’s my first pregnancy so no real idea what to expect.

I’ve been looking into early scans and there seem to be some fairly mixed reviews about whether they alleviate or increase anxiety. I have no real reason to get one - no concerns so far (other than no nausea yet, though it’s still pretty early) and I’m mid-30s so whilst not super young, age is less of a factor.

On the other hand, I hate the idea of going to a 12 week scan excited to be able to finally tell people, and then discovering I’ve had a MMC - I would rather find out earlier (though obviously it could still happen between the early scan and 12 weeks) so I don’t get my hopes up that everything’s okay if it’s not.

What do people think? Ultimately is an early scan going to make me more or less anxious?!

Thank you!

The thing is, you could have an early scan and everything be ok and still get bad news at the 12 week scan. IMO they're a waste of money as you can't see anything, they can cause worry if you're not right with your dates which is likely and there are still no guarantees. The no nausea isn't anything to worry about either. I never had morning sickness in my second pregnancy

Following this as I'm also pregnant for the first time and considering an early scan at the 8 week mark.

I'm just curious about how someone could have their dates wrong @omg35 , if I know when my LMP was I assume that's enough to know how far along I am, or am I missing something? Thanks in advance, I'm new to this!

If your going to get one wait till 8 weeks

Should have added, 8 weeks at earliest.
I done IVF so had scans at 6.7.8.9 and 8 and 9 were the better ones. I could see a baby at 9.

The thing is, you could have an early scan and everything be ok and still get bad news at the 12 week scan. IMO they're a waste of money as you can't see anything, they can cause worry if you're not right with your dates which is likely and there are still no guarantees. The no nausea isn't anything to worry about either. I never had morning sickness in my second pregnancy
All of this.

In answer to your question @TTCat39, with my DD, I ovulated really late in my cycle and my dates were totally off. My due date based on my lmp should have been mid-February but because I ovulated so late, my due date was actually the 10th of March going by my scans so it’s not always really straightforward with dates unless you can be sure of when you ovulated.
It’s more common than you’d think- I’ve lost count of the number of threads I’ve seen where women have insisted they know for sure when they ovulated when actually the scan says otherwise

Thanks @Livvymax I'm as sure as I can be regarding when I ovulated as I was charting bbt and using opk's. I ovulate relatively early, although right in the middle of my shorter cycle - CD12 of a 24 day cycle.

I think good if 8 or 9 weeks at absolute earliest. I had one at 6 weeks and it caused me a whole world of anxiety which has unfortunately stuck with me throughout my pregnancy.

As PP said they don't offer 100% reassurance as things can change but I love my later private scans just so i could have a look at baby and see how he is changing

I had a 12 week scan that turned out to be 6 weeks (not worrying because of wonky periods) but I then had to wait 6 more weeks for my 12 weeks scan and could only home nothing had gone wrong in that time. A friend waited for her 12 week scan, all was fine and she just needed to go back the next week for more measurements they couldnt get, baby died between scans.

I really don't get how they can be that reassuring other than baby was alive at that point in time.

I personally don't think it will bring reassurance at this stage. I had a big bleed at 6 weeks and was offered a scan. You couldn't see much other than the tiny sack. They couldn't offer much beyond " it's still there, see what happens, we'll check again in 2 weeks". At 8 weeks when I went back you could see a clear heartbeat and more of a formed foetus. That was reassuring but I still felt anxious going for the 12 week scan. Pregnancy is an anxious time.

@periwinkle86 I had an ivf pregnancy, so had an nhs 7 weeks scan. I then had private at 9.5 weeks. (And then other scans later on in pregnancy). I LOVED my scans, and found them very beneficial for my nerves. And they are lovely memories to have.

On the other hand, I fell pregnant again, and saw on the 7 week scan, there was no heartbeat. I needed medical management to pass this, which didn’t happen until 11 weeks. So, I am glad I found out earlier than a 12 weeks scan.

All the best in your pregnancy x

I really wouldn't go before 8 weeks.

I was desperate for an early scan... In the end, I booked one for 8 weeks, but started bleeding in the 5th week and had a scan at exactly 6 weeks in the EPU. They couldn't see much... the gestational sac and the yolk sac were clear, but there was no heartbeat yet, and that meant they can't confirm a viable pregnancy. The sonographer saying those words stayed in my head for WEEKS.

The EPU booked another scan for two weeks later, which is the earliest that they'll do one, as a week isn't considered long enough to see much growth... and private places don't like to scan you again within 14 days either. The two weeks feels like forever, and it's made my anxiety so much worse than it was. I didn't even necessarily want to see the heartbeat...

It's not just me... there's loads of us, on here and elsewhere, that find them to do more harm than good before it's too early to see that the baby is still okay. My scan was last Monday, there's a good few people since then that haven't been able to see the yolk sac either, or get left with a "pregnancy of unknown location" because it's so early.

Babies are hard to measure before 12 weeks, they grow randomly and can be showing as 5 days bigger or smaller at any point, which is why the NHS doesn't date until 12 weeks, so even if you know exactly when you implanted, it doesn't mean you know how big the baby will be that early...

And the age-old problem remains, that they only tell you that the baby is okay in that snapshot, and then the reassurance can fuel more anxiety... and lead to you having loads of scans.

I can't say I wouldn't have an early scan ever again, but I'd wait until I was 8/9/10 weeks. It feels like forever, but honestly, the waiting and worrying is nothing compared to the waiting and worrying if they can't see what they want to see because you're too early.

I had an 8 week scan and I loved it. I found the private scan staff were much more excited and took more time- obviously because they have more time and they’re paid to be!
NHS scan was very much a formal procedure for me, which is totally fine as they’re much more strained and serious as a service.
But I found the 8 week scan gave me initial reassurance at least ☺️

For me it was worth it as I had lost a baby the previous month and this time I wanted to check things over early. Even though anything can happen it actually made me feel better seeing the heartbeat flickering. I had one at 7 weeks and saw a lot more than I thought you could!

Totally agree with what @omg35 says.

If you think it will help go for it, I had a private scan at 9 weeks but unfortunately I had bad news at the 12 week scan, this time I didn't get my 12 week scan appointment untill I was near 14 weeks so went and booked a private scan at exactly 12 weeks thankfully everything worked out fine this time!

Terrible idea. @omg35 has it right. If your dates are off, you terrify yourself needlessly and/or it's a complete waste of time. If you get "good news" (baby looks as expected), you could still get bad news at the 12 week scan if something happens in the meantime. I am not aware of any problem which could be detected at an early scan and fixed which wouldn't be detectable and fixable at a 12 week scan.

Thank you so much for your responses everyone! It sounds like the potential anxiety a scan could cause would be much worse than the lesser anxiety of just waiting it out. Think we’ll hold off on the early scan unless there’s a reason to have it!

I have had a bleed so am going for a reassurance private scan tomorrow, I will be 7 weeks.

My last pregnancy I had a scan at 8 weeks and all was well, when I went for my 12 weeks scan I had a mmc and the baby was measuring 8 weeks.

As I'm bleeding this time I want to check to reassure me now incase of mmc. I think it's worth it if worried.

I think it’s fine from eight weeks on but with the huge caveat that sadly things can still go wrong. They serve a purpose but a far more limited one than they claim.

I had one and it made me feel so much better, heartbeat at about 7 weeks.

A friend had one and then had a MMC picked up at her 12 weeks. A too sadly nothing is a guarantee, and it’s so subjective based on individual experiences.

Follow your gut instinct but wait until 7 weeks plus if you go ahead

If it's something you want to do, do it.
I had one with my son, knew I was around 6 weeks and they dated me 6+3 it was so lovely seeing a little blob with a heartbeat. It made me even more excited not anxious, this time I've booked one for 7 weeks (next weeks) still as excited.

I had an 8 weeks scan with my daughter and I loved it. The statistics show that seeing a heartbeat after a certain amount of time your chances of having a miscarriage go down. That's not to say that nothing bad can happen you're totally safe, but it certainly eased a lot of anxiety for me. I am 4 weeks pregnant and will be getting a private scan at 8 weeks this time as I had a miscarriage in February.

It's really helpful reading all of your experiences, but from my perspective I am not thinking of having a scan for reassurance purposes, we are just trying to enjoy this first experience of pregnancy. I have been very anxious about miscarriage since I found out I was pregnant ten days ago. That isn't going to go away until the baby is in my arms. We are considering not telling anyone until I am 20 weeks plus. But of course that won't take away our own devastation if it does happen. My heart goes out to everyone who has suffered a loss

I had an early scan but not for anxiety, my husband wouldn't have been allowed to join me for the 12 week one and as its our first child I wanted to have the experience together. I'm really glad we did it. I was 9 weeks.

I had one at 6 weeks which I thought was 9 weeks (irregular periods). I am so glad I did: it made it feel ‘real’ and alleviated my worries that I was imagining it (!) or that something would be horribly wrong. Was definitely a really good decision for me.