Need reassurance! 4d FREE-VIEW SCAN without my consent. So anxious it’s done my baby harm !

[KLMmumma]

hello ladies, I’m 39 weeks pregnant and about to pop! I’ve done my head in reading so many articles about the risks of new ultrasounds. I have my standard 12 week and 20 week scan on the NHS, I also accepted one quick growth scan last week on nhs.

My main concern is that when I was on a hiking holiday up north I received some bad news, had been massively anxious and went it to get heart beat checked to an ultrasound direct. not having any signal I just called and booked, had never even heard of this 4d freeview. They asked if I wanted to know the gender and I have said yes, without asking it was swapped to 4d! He was only 16 weeks. I wasn’t in the chair long I got instantly anxious. I would never have chose this. I’m so worried now I’ve done harm, long term harm and also it’s made me more worried about him being ok in birth.

Who has had 4d scans that young gestation and their babies been fine after ? I really need some
reassurance!

Your baby is in no danger at all - some private ultrasound clinics will offer a quick free view as part of a reassurance scan as a kind gesture.
The reason they're usually not carried out until approx 20 weeks is less to do with any danger in the scan, and more because (kindly) baby features are not as recognisable earlier in their gestation and they're frankly less cute. by 20ish weeks they've packed on a little weight and are better for viewing in 4D, and when people are paying full whack for the scan the sonographer and team will want to ensure the client is getting the best experience possible.
Ultrasound Direct is a very reliable outfit in my experience, we used them throughout lockdown so my partner could join me for scans when he couldn't come to NHS scans and they couldn't do enough for us. If you want more information on the scan, definitely ring them and explain you're feeling nervous, they'll be super helpful.

Thanks for your reply @SnackyOnassis I did call up a few times since august and email. I know they would never admit to a fault anyway, although some people I spoke to were nice! Just wanting to hear of people that have baby’s now that have been un effected by it. I guess my pre first birth anxiety has brought all this up again, that mixed with some awful articles I’ve read online about the effects and risks. Glad your experience was all positive!

I think lots of people who pay for private sex scans at 16 weeks have the weird creepy 4D thing. I know I did because I have the picture of DS looking like something from Harry Potter (not in a good way). DS is 3.5 now and fine. I had lots of scans of various types in my pregnancy.

No worries, happy to share any info I can! I had a couple of 4D scans, one as a full session (agreed, I found it creepy but it was a gift from doting first time grandparents!) and a couple of sneak peeks as you had and my 2 year old is absolutely thriving, I can't see any difference it might have made to him. Good luck for your birth, I'm sure everything will go smoothly but also completely appreciate that feeling of wanting to make sure you're doing everything right!

It's fine, the reason they don't do early usually is because you can't see much, not because it's going to harm your baby! X

What harm do you feel could have been done OP?

Had it done at that time too OP, apart from looking ugly on it, my boy was fine, Born more gorgeous than that scan

Please seek help for your anxiety. Your baby is more at risk every time you get in a car than he is from this scan. You need to get your brain out of this negative thinking loop and stop obsessive reading of nonsense online. The scan is perfectly safe.

A lot of the risks of these scans is that people go for reassurance when they’re worried and the scans don’t pick up a problem (because it’s not designed for that and they don’t have insurance for it) so the woman goes away reassured when she needs medical help/advice. The scan hasn’t caused any problem just potentially delayed medical intervention if the woman misunderstood the purpose.

What makes you think it will harm the baby? Ultrasounds use sound waves to create an image of the baby on the screen, 4d scans use the same technology, but use more angles and only monitor up to skin level- hence you get a clearer image of the baby. Nothing goes into the baby. There isn’t any research to indicate ultrasounds are harmful to the baby.

Your baby is fine.
Your anxiety however

This is your anxiety taking over. Your baby is just fine.

I'm having weekly scans currently as my pregnancy is high risk. Also had a private gender scan at 16w with a 4d element and a full 4d scan at 28w. I trust them to be safe!

Your baby will be absolutely fine, ultrasound won’t hurt them. Please, please talk to a midwife or someone about your anxieties as this could indicate you may need extra support after you give birth. It’s not healthy for you. Also stay off Google, it really doesn’t do you any favours and there’s so many ridiculous things online.

Has someone said something to make you worry? Ignore comments from people who just don't know.

As others have already said, your baby won't have been harmed by having one of these scans (where all babies look like crispy lasagne IMO).

I had a large number of scans due to various issues, I asked my consultant about the risks of this and was told you would have to be having scans almost every day for their to be any kind of risk.