Why all the early scans?

[maryd84]

Is this a new thing. See a lot of posts from people getting lots of early scans even at 5 weeks gestation. A scan is not going to show much at 5 weeks. The private scan places must be making a fortune.

First time I had an early scan at 9 weeks, partly curious about it since it was the first time I was pregnant and it turned out to be a mmc. Second time i thought I could wait but I had a scan at 9 weeks because my symptoms dissappeared and I was convinced it had happened again. If it had I could save 4 weeks of time (my last pregnancy took ages to resolve). However it was a successful pregnancy.

7 week scan for viability due to diabetes, there are many many for them.

I have absolutely no issue with the private scans if they're genuinely reassuring to expectant mums and of course, if they can afford them. I do see there is an argument to be made for some of these places praying on vulnerable women's anxieties, which might be better dealt with in other ways. A scan is only "reassuring" for a short time, of course. But in general, you do you. There are lots of reasons why women choose to do them.

I've had early scans in both my pregnancies. First time around I was pregnant during lockdown and we knew DH wouldn't be able to attend my NHS ones. It was a wonderful moment to see DD for the first time together, and to date it's the only scan he's attended.

For this pregnancy, I had an early scan for no better reason than I did the last time. Lo and behold it revealed a twin pregnancy, so yes I'm very glad I went ahead. It was a huge shock and we are still wrapping our heads around all this means. My 12 week isn't until next week and I can't imagine if we were still just assuming there was only one in there! Forewarned is forearmed and all that.

Thanks everyone for your replies. Yes it's great if the scans can give people reassurance and of course for medical reasons such as ruling out ectopic pregnancy.

I've previously had a miscarriage. Baby stopped growing at eight weeks. I think i would of found it more devastating if I had seen a heartbeat on an early scan and then find out baby had passed away at the next scan.

I'm 6 weeks pregnant at the moment and it does feel like a long time till the 12 week scan.

After a miscarriage it was for reassurance aa I was very anxious. I had one at 7 weeks I believe it was. And even if I had miscarried after that, I'd have been grateful to have a photo of my baby and to have seen him. As it turned out all went well with that pregnancy. I had 2 private scans and I think 5 or 6 NHS scans for medical reasons. If I am pregnant again I'll have a private scan before the 12 week NHS one. Each to their own!

In the country I live you always have a dating scan prior to 12 weeks as standard. It should be when you believe you are 7/8 weeks.

This is actually how my last mmc was picked up so I am glad and then it gave me additional reassurance this time. There's no way I could have waited until 12 weeks as the anxiety was already very bad.

I have an additional scan at 9 weeks via Epu for bleeding.

whatever woman want to do in their pregnancy (as long as not harming baby of course!) is up to them and it's not really for you to judge to be honest x

@marriedatlastsight yep , can't breathe without judgement on here!

It's just as devastating whether you've seen a heartbeat or not.

I live in a country where my employer covers private health so I can go to as many scans I want to. I had a MMC last year so I went to quite a few reassurance scans.

@maryd84 your post sounds like your are annoyed or irritated about this.

for me, an early scan (after bleeding, and one sided pain) confirmed my pregnancy was not a viable uterine pregnancy and I could begin treatment earlier as it was ectopic - which can be life threatening. So your assumption re ‘not seeing much’ is pretty invalid.

not everyone is having early scans because they are simply excited or can’t wait until the 12 week mark - some people have them because of serious heath risks or multiple losses.

it would be lovely if there was no need for early scans and peoples pregnancies were not filled with loss and trauma but here we are.

That's what happened as the norm when I had my pregnancies. Wasn't anxious at all, the pregnancy test told me I was pregnant .And even when I had a missed miscarriage I didn't get an early scan

The chance of miscarrying drops significantly if you’ve established a healthy heartbeat. So it’s hugely reassuring to detect one, even if it is only at 7 weeks

I feel grateful to have known things weren’t quite right very early to save myself. It was an ivf pregnancy so I had a 6wk scan. I really only knew I was pregnant and relaxed for 1month which has made mental recovery fairly quick although I’m still very disappointed and sad.

I’d take that route again even if not IVF.

Not sure why youre asking but yes it seems like its quite commonplace to want to know. Its likely brought on because we now have access to such facilities so we indulge our curiosity in the hopes of allaying our fears and anxieties. It was a relatively long road to becoming pregnant but I was not tempted to check on baby before the 12 week mark. Main reason was because I am distrustful of US safety and also because at that point if youre going to miscarry, youre just going to and theres nothing you can do about it. For me, thatd be more stressful so I decided to just trust nature.

Mine was a standard part of the fertility treatment, before I was discharged to the normal midwife/appointment schedule. I wouldn’t get a very early one at one of the private places, if it’s too early it can cause even more anxiety than it resolves.

@marriedatlastsight no idea what your on about ........

An early scan at about 7 weeks should be compulsory to rule out an ectopic pregnancy. Too many women find out about an ectopic only when it is too late and the tube has already ruptured. This is a life threatening condition.

Then, for whatever reason a woman as a scan, even one every week, I don't see what's the problem if they can afford it.

I had an early scan the first pregnancy because my friend and colleague is an obstetric consultant and I was bleeding and in a lot of pain. She scanned me to check for ectopic in between clinics. I was about 6 weeks and there was nothing developing and I miscarried quite quickly a few days afterwards.

She scanned me the second time round as soon as I was 6+2 by her calculations, knowing that we'd likely see a heartbeat and we did. She scanned me again at 8 weeks and then I just relied on the NHS and x2 private scans for the benefit of my husband, who was in the military at the time and missed the whole pregnancy.

So a mixture of clinical need, diagnosis and reassurance I guess.