20-week anomaly scan – what to expect?

[esgill]

I have mine tomorrow and I'm really nervous. How long is it? What kinds of things do they say? How is bad news delivered?

If you are nervous, please make sure you tell the sonographer before it begins.

They do so many and not everyone is anxious, many people see it as their ‘gender scan’. Letting them know how you feel will hopefully lead to them treating you with a bit of extra care and concern.

There will be lots of long silences as they make their checks. This does not mean it’s bad- they just have to concentrate.

Don't be alarmed at the silence, they just have lots of measurements to check. You'll have your scan, they'll talk you through what they can see and give the gender if you like/it's possible. You'll then sit in the waiting room and the HCSW might take you through to weight you and do the CO2 readings, then depending on who's care you are in they'll ask you to sit back down and you'll wait for the consultant or the midwife who can talk you though the scan results so BP etc. in my experience it's always a lengthy hospital visit, mine was 3.5 hours last time with all the waiting.

In my experience, you won't get bad news at the scan - at most they'll have inconclusive measurements and you'll be asked to return for another scan. In most cases, by the time of the second scan the baby will be in a better position to take the measurements and everything will be fine

3.5 hours - wow mine was about 15-20mins I think. Just scan in the room she explained as she went along and then headed home. Good luck OP I am sure all will be well xx

Totally agree with the above. Telling them in advance just how anxious I was (I barely slept the night before my scans) ensured we had a really nice, memorable experience as the sonographer explained there’d be a lot of silences and she narrated what she was looking at next (but some will have a less vocal approach which I would too personally if I needed to concentrate). Be prepared for it to be long - they check a lot of things, often more than once to get an average measurement, and this is completely normal and doesn’t mean something might be wrong. But the OP above is right in that most people call this the “gender scan” (not realising a scan to determine the sex alone would be a total waste of NHS money… 🙈) so sonographers perhaps wrongly think everyone goes into it with excitement. Try to do things today/tonight to help you have a good sleep. Them finding something is not usual and if they did it is their job to tell you and next steps are arranged quickly. Sending you positive energy and good luck.

3.5 hours?! I'd have cracked up if I was there that long. My scan was done in 30 mins tops. Sonographer pointed out organs/limbs/facial features, did their measurements, had a bit of small talk and then sent me on my merry way.
Of course that was because everything was "normal", I don't know what the process is if they find an anomaly

I can't believe I've been helped captive for that long and nobody else has! The scan overall was about 15 minutes but all the backwards and forwards between HCSW, midwives etc overall all my scans have been a good 3 hour visit!

Ridiculous, Marshmallow! They really need to remember it’s a stressful experience as it is for many women. And not to mention we can’t take half days off for what should be a short appointment, esp when there’s so many throughout pregnancy.

you don’t need a full bladder this time as baby is big enough without it. It’s similar to your 12 week one, they take measurements and will check the organs, limbs etc. some trusts may tell you the sex if you want to know, but not all trusts will do this. You won’t be weighed, or have any blood pressure, urine checks or anything like that. The scan itself takes maybe 10 minutes, most of the time is spent sat in the waiting room waiting for the scan.

with my second she was in an awkward position so they may ask you to wiggle or jump, doesn’t mean anything is wrong they just need to be in a better position.

Once the scan is done you get your photos and get to go home, you don’t need to wait around for anything. If anything has shown up on the scan they will tell you then and there

Thanks so much everyone. This is so reassuring. I had a private scan at 16 weeks as I was impatient to know the gender – we're having a girl. Have been calling her by the name we plan to give her so I hope the scan tomorrow confirms this!

Good to know silences are normal, too. At the 12-week scan this made me very nervous. I kept thinking "what are you not telling me?" I'll definitely tell them I'm nervous.

TW pregnancy loss: I'm nervous because the first friend of mine to ever find out she was pregnant, 10 years ago, had an anomaly identified at 20 weeks, which resulted in her having to terminate the pregnancy. I won't ask her for info on how that went as I wouldn't want to remind her of sad memories – she has a healthy child now, and as many people have assured me, her problem was quite rare. In any case, I'm very much seeing it as an anomaly scan rather than a gender scan. My thinking is that being prepared for the worst is better than not being prepared. But really hope for a good outcome and stress-free scan.

I got bad news at my scan.
I was in there for 2 hours and they called another sonographer and then a Dr in to look so I knew something was wrong. They told me there and then, printed off the pictures showing the anomaly and talked me through everything they had found and what it might indicate.
(It all turned out fine in the end, but I had to have scans every 2-3 weeks until the end of my pregnancy to check if the anomaly corrected itself).
It isn't really common for these to find any issues at this stage and even if they do, it doesn't always amount to anything.

Don't be surprised if they won't tell/confirm the sex - not all NHS trusts do.

We had devastating news at the 20 week scan which ultimately ended with a diagnosis of a life limiting condition, 3 weeks later.

They were very kind and clear, we were scanned by the consultant who pointed out his concerns, the possible cause of them and explained what further referrals we would need to check them out (MRI and fetal cardiac scan) and the plan for review post those to discuss next steps eg potential amnio. It was of course a Friday before a bank holiday weekend so everything was booked for the Tuesday. They gave us info and contact numbers to take home. We were there several hours, the unit had shut when we left.

It is rare they can tell you that your baby has X at an anomaly scan, they can only identify potential markers of various conditions, some clear concerns, some soft markers which could mean nothing and then refer on for further testing or offer it there and then.

Sorry to hear this @sandberry and @wherethecityis – I'm scared of this happening but know it can. It must have been so awful for both of you but I'm glad the news was delivered kindly and clearly. I suppose I can expect a longer appointment if issues are found.

What new things can be picked up at 20 weeks that can't at 16 weeks? My private 16 week scan was all fine and I found out the gender. There was a good heartbeat and movement. I've started to feel some kicks.

In our case it was a potential diaphragmatic hernia which was intact a diaphragmatic eventration and was a marker for her ultimate diagnosis of trisomy 18. I don’t think the eventration would have been picked up if we hadn’t had a consultant led scan due to us making a fuss re low PappA. The standard scan missed her very obvious heart issue (it was in the wrong place) I’d had a 15 week scan which hadn’t picked up any issues. I imagine the heart issue would have been picked up as they’d asked us to come back the next week as they hadn’t had a clear vision befor the consultant decided to rescan.

Obviously growth defects such as short limbs etc can become more apparent on later scans as they drop more clearly behind a curve, soft markers for syndromes also become apparent and disappear again at certain developmental points.

Mine was also trisomy 18, although at the 20 week scan it was just noted her heart didn't look quite right and that I needed a referral. I had a further scan a few days later at the fetal medicine department who explained the possibilities and arranged an amniocentesis. My private 16 week scan had already identified talipes which was confirmed at the 20 week scan.

I should point out that I didn't have any of the indicative tests at the 12 week scan for trisomy issues, so it's likely to have been identified earlier if I had.

Having said that, a friend was also sent for a follow up scan after some odd measurements at the 20 week scan, and it was just the baby being in an awkward position and all was absolutely fine.

Thanks for sharing @sandberry and @123ZYX – I hope you're both faring okay now? Such hard news to hear. In my friend's case, her baby had no kidneys so it was very much "this pregnancy isn't viable." Scary to know that some follow-up scans might be necessary. I'm going on holiday this weekend for 2 weeks...

Scary to know that some follow-up scans might be necessary. I'm going on holiday this weekend for 2 weeks...

I had to be scanned twice so I was there for about 2 hours.

This is because the sonographer couldn't get the measurements the first time as my baby was in a difficult position so I was sent away to have a sugary drink and walk around to get baby to move.

I then came back and had to wait for a gap in appointments to be rescanned.

Luckily baby had moved so all measurements could be taken, otherwise I would have had to have another appointment a week or so later.

CO2 tests aren't routine in my area.

@esgill I’ve just had a 16w scan today because I had a baby last year that had t13.

At my 12w scan last year they picked up on the shape of the babies head being ‘not right’ and I noticed something was wrong as the sonographer brought someone else in for a second opinion. My bloods had come back a little off after that (they thought possible t13) so I was brought back for another scan a few weeks later when baby was more developed, this scan was like anomaly scan and they checked the brain, heart etc. They then noticed something wrong with the brain. They told me on both occasions their suspicions and were very clear to me on what to expect, I left both scans knowing something was wrong. I later had an amniocentesis to confirm. She wasn’t compatible with life in the end.

This time around I’ve had a very different experience - today I’ve had a 16 week anomaly scan and she talked me through what she was looking at - brain, heart, kidneys, legs, head shape etc and said all looked normal. She said my baby looks exactly normal for a 16w baby. I however will still come back at 20w to have my proper 20w scan as they say there is a big diff from 16/20 weeks development wise, but so far so good.
My point being is that if there’s something they find, or they have any concerns, they will tell you there and then, so don’t worry 🤍🤍🤍

Sorry to be annoying but it’s CO not CO2

I'm so sorry for those who had devastating experiences at and after their anomaly scan.. that's why it's so important it is referred to as that, isn't it? Rather than people thinking it's all about gender.

When I had mine they showed me baby quickly, confirms they're still wriggling around in there of course. Then they turn the screen away while they do their measurements and will be silent so don't let that worry you. It's precise and important work so they need to concentrate. Hopefully all they see will be well, the worry never ends though for mums 💗

If there's something wrong they will give you their initial findings before referring you to fetal medicine so you won't leave the scan completely clueless. For me the sonographer went to get someone else to have a look during the scan. The more senior one then explained what they had found.

I think it's quite rare to find anything serious though, and a good 16 week scan is positive.

They also check the formation of some of the organs as well during the scan which can take a while if the baby is in the wrong position. I had to get up and have a sugary drink and do some star jumps to get baby to shift before going in for round 2 and were there about 2 hours overall.
Our scan showed a rare anomaly of the heart which we were told on the day and had to be referred through to a specialist.

It’s worth remembering that the sonographers are not specialists in particular conditions and can only raise when something is “not right”. We were heartbroken at the time thinking the worst, but they were very quick to act and were reassured within a week by a fetal cardiologist that the heart was not life limiting in any way.
We had to undergo a variety of other tests to confirm that baby had no connected chromosomal issues. The whole process took about 3 weeks but the NHS were amazing and we were very grateful to receive good news in the end. I’m 30 weeks now and have had scans scheduled every 3 weeks since, so they like to keep a close eye afterwards ☺️.
Try not to stress. As other posters have said, anomalies are rare and when they do occur it doesn’t always mean the worst.

Thanks everyone for sharing your experience. I had mine today and I was so nervous. I felt much more comfortable with the sonographer this time though – the one last time was very quiet. I told him I was nervous and so he explained everything as he went along, reassuring me that it all looked great. Everything was pretty average/perfect. He also confirmed what we got told after our 16-week scanL we're having a girl. Very relieved. Definitely should be considered an anomaly scan, as it's called, not a gender scan, as I realise this is a time when problems do get picked up. I think being nervous actually meant I was prepared for bad news and happy to have good news.