Scared I've harmed baby by having too many ultrasounds

[Missnicolinda96]

Hi guys. I'm an ftm aged 25. By the time I have this baby I will have had 11 scans I think? 3 on the nhs and the rest private. They have varied in time from extremely quick (literally like 3 minutes) to 15 minutes. Baby seems fine so far at 17 weeks, but I keep.having intrusive thoughts that I've hurt my baby. I'm not high risk so I feel horribly guilty and scared . I feel so stupid that I could've put my precious baby at risk.

Agree with sageandbasil, I’d they were at all dangerous then they wouldn’t offer them. Think about x rays - they have a risk and so they ask you a million times if any chance you’re pregnant before you get one. I had a chest x ray and even though I said I couldn’t be pregnant (hadn’t had sex in years!) they did a blood test to be sure.

I’ve never heard anything negative about ultrasounds. In other countries people get more than on the NHS. People with complicated pregnancies have them all the time. They wouldn’t offer or allow this if it was a problem.

Please speak to someone about your intrusive thoughts. They are horrible to live with and you shouldn’t have to. Please seek support.

OP you must speak to your midwife about your intrusive thoughts. Have you ever had help with your anxiety?

Ultrasounds are not a risk for babies.

I repeat, ultrasounds are not a risk for babies.

I had weekly growth scans with my third, from 24 weeks pregnant and she is absolutely fine!!

High risk pregnancy here. Over 25 scans. All was fine. She’s 12 now. Don’t worry.

I had loads of scans with DD as my Ds was premature. No I'll effects.

Ill effects I meant to say. And at least 20 scans.

There's no evidence that ultrasounds harm babies, no matter how many you have. Some high risk pregnancies have scans every single week, with no harm done.

However, please talk to your midwife about the anxiety that drove you to have so many scans. There are services that can help you with it and can help put your mind at ease xx

I’m having growth scans too, it’s for the greater good to have more than the usual amount of scans - nobody has brought up this is a risk.

On my 20 week appointment alone I had 3 scans in between a lot of walking because of an awkward baby.

Do you think once movement’s become established you’ll become less anxious?

You need to speak to a midwife or doctor about your anxiety, and urgently. Get yourself supported and known before baby comes along.

Ultrasounds are not a risk for the baby.

However, excessive maternal anxiety IS a risk, during pregnancy and afterwards, so I would highly encourage you to seek help. Discuss with your midwife and/or GP and/or any therapist you may already have. If you've suffered anxiety since you were a teen, it's not odd that it is getting worse in pregnancy.

The best thing you can do for your baby is get help for your mental health.

Do you think there is anything anyone could say to put your fears at rest? Define who that person would be, gp, midwife, obstetrician etc, and write very specific questions which would give you the answers you'd need to hear to stop worrying.

You urgently need help to manage your anxiety.
It's the greatest risk to your baby and child as they grow

As everyone else has said, they’re not at risk from the ultrasounds, but 9 scans in 17 weeks for no medical reason is not healthy from the point of view of maternal anxiety. That is something that, for the sake of your child, you must get a grip on.

I had 31 scans with DC2. All by NHS consultants, and she’s fine.

They did mention if babu has lots of scans they tend to be left handed though, but she’s looking like a righty at them moment.

I had loads more than that, as I have twins both perfectly fine and healthy.

However you’re anxiety is not fine please tell your MW. They can help you.

@Missnicolinda96

I counted wrong, it will be 9, not 11. And that's including my 20 week scan, which I haven't had yet. Anyway, I've had severe anxiety since my early teens. I regret having so many and wish I'd perhaps only had one private one at about 8 weeks to see if the pregnancy was viable.

If something happens I will blame the scans and myself. Idk if it just felt longer because I was laying there anxious, but I felt like some of the private ones lasted a while, so I'm worried about tissue heating. I feel so bad about myself for not having more self control. In hindsight I feel so stupid for having so many and I'm convinced I've put my baby at risk.

Ultrasound is just sound waves though. No heating.

I had 17 in my last pregnancy, 2 private and the rest NHS. At one point I was having 1 a week plus a Doppler. Had no I'll effects on the baby.

I had at least 20 scans with my last pregnancy and she was absolutely fine. I also had high anxiety after a couple of early miscarriages and wanted to make sure she was ok. The scans calmed me down.

I had my dc abroad and it was standard to have a scan at every appointment which was weekly at first, moved to monthly then back to 2 weekly, weekly then daily towards the end (the daily was fo le a specific reason but even without that still more scans than I can remember or count). I have never heard that it's a risk

@Missnicolinda96

I counted wrong, it will be 9, not 11. And that's including my 20 week scan, which I haven't had yet. Anyway, I've had severe anxiety since my early teens. I regret having so many and wish I'd perhaps only had one private one at about 8 weeks to see if the pregnancy was viable.

If something happens I will blame the scans and myself. Idk if it just felt longer because I was laying there anxious, but I felt like some of the private ones lasted a while, so I'm worried about tissue heating. I feel so bad about myself for not having more self control. In hindsight I feel so stupid for having so many and I'm convinced I've put my baby at risk.

The thing with anxiety is that it'll just transfer to something else.

You're worried you've had too many scans. If you hadn't have had them, you'd be worrying that something was going on or was undetected as you'd not had scans.

Please do speak to your midwife about your mental health, you can get help with this, your anxiety will only get worse when you have your baby to worry about on the outside. You can get better, you don't have to keep living in fear.

Pipe down @LeesaBeesa04. Unless you have a scientific study to back up whatever your incoherent post claims?

I didn't see the deleted posts thankfully. I'm assuming it's someone telling me how dangerous ultrasounds are?

@Missnicolinda96

I didn't see the deleted posts thankfully. I'm assuming it's someone telling me how dangerous ultrasounds are?

It’s probably a troll. They will offer scans to high risk pregnancies weekly. You’ve had yours less than that. Scans do not harm your baby.

Please seek help for your anxiety either through GP or midwife. Has it got worse with the pregnancy? Hormones can do a lot to a person. Hope you can get some help and feel better soon OP x