Absent stomach during untrasound

[medin]

I just had 20 week untrasound. Everything went fine except they couldn’t find babies stomach. Thay instruct me to go and eat something and come back. After half an hour they did find but they said that its small in size. I will have to come in a month for a check up. Have you ever experienced something like that? Should i be worried? A months is a long time…

I have no experience of this. But I would book a private scan if at-all possible to try and find out more because a month is ridiculous.

Re. PP response, I suspect the reason for the month interval is to give it time to develop and show more clearly rather than a resources/waitlist issue.

I would be wary of getting tempted to book private scans, assuming you're in the UK the expertise of NHS sonographers is second to none and I'd doubt it would give you any answers.

Really sorry for the wait you have ahead, I hope all is well with little one

Not all private sonography companies are just girl/boy, 3D, baby bonding scans. Some carry out professional medical scans.

I just think that a month is a long time for an expectant mother to wait for an update. I personally would want to see if another scan could provide some reassurance in the mean time.

I wouldn’t worry, the stomach fills and empties, if the baby has emptied it’s stomach and then not had another drink within the time of your appointment it’s won’t have filled much if it’s only had 1 or 2 gulps of fluid so smaller than if it had had 5-10 gulps of fluid. If your baby had no stomach then the bladder would not have been seen and the kidneys would have been hard to see also. I’m sure it’s absolutely fine and if they were concerned you wld have been referred there and then to the screening team.

This happened to me and I was so panicked! However at the rescan a week later it was visualised - baby just hadn't swallowed enough fluid before. Hope all goes well for you OP

As PP said, babies can fill and empty their stomachs continuously as they swallow amniotic fluid in the womb. If the baby has been asleep and hasn't swallowed much fluid just before the scan, then it wouldn't show as well as a baby who had been gulping away in the minutes beforehand.

The month wait will be to allow the baby (and thus the stomach) to grow so they can get a better view on the scan if there was a more serious issue.

As hard as it is, please try not to worry at this stage. I hope the next scan goes well for you.

Not had this but hoping all is well.

Makes total sense what others have said, might just be your baby isn't constantly taking fluid in like most do.

I agree if there was 'no stomach' a lot more would have been picked up / a quicker referral made etc.

I think baby is enjoying playing you up already!

In defence of the pp who suggested a private scan, I had one at 28 weeks and they picked up a major issue with my placenta. Sent me to hospital straight away. Baby delivered a few days later. Scan was done by an obstetrician and frankly they saved my dd's life.

Having said that, I wouldn't panic yet. Can you call your community midwife for reassurance?

Thank you everybody! My doctor also said that it might be a case that he just did not eat before, and also I haven’t eat before my appointment either. After i ate something the stomach appeared very small, so i hope that this was just a bad luck. Also i think that if something bad they would have done more tests or smth…

@medin Where did you have your anomaly scan performed? On English NHS FASP checks the anomaly scan checks should be completed before the 23rd week of pregnancy. Leaving it a month is excessive and at most we would leave it two weeks. The stomach and bladder run on an approx 15-20 minute cycle, so seeing it empty and then smaller would be normal.

I wouldn’t recommend going to a private company, I know another poster said not all privates are 4D gender scans but there are now a few private clinics who are employing non uk qualified sonographers who are not qualified to work in the NHS and are not trained to the same standard as NHS sonographers (they are cheaper to employ and this company has ended the sonographers contracts to bring in the other sonographers) it is a big issue in my region with these unqualified “sonographers” telling their customers things which are incorrect and causing stress to pregnant women.

@ClaraMumsnet slightly hijacking this thread but maybe mumsnet could help SOR and BMUS lobby the government to regulate the title Sonographer and only qualified staff be allowed to use the term and use ultrasound and perform scans.

I think it's quite normal for things to be 'missing' at the 20 week scan. They couldn't find a chamber of my baby's heart! It was just a bad day, bad angle, bad position. A month is a hell of a long time to make you wait though. I'd go for a private re-scan sooner if you can, or ring the ultrasound dept and explain snd hope they can get you in quicker!

@Poppiesway1 I live outside UK, so we have the last ultrasound at 20 weeks. But as she wanted to double check ordered me to come in a month.
I hope everything is ok and at that time it was empy as everything else was perfect. Also i did non-invasive chromosomes test in the beginning it was fine.
It just they provide not much information is this bad is this good and leaves you hanging. She just mentioned that its rare that happens 😞