Uterine artery notching

[mofttb]

I was just wondering if anyone knows about notching in the arteries during pregnancy? Just a bit worried also confused, I have low papp a so am on aspirin for that. I had my 20 wk scan and have notching, been booked in for a scan at 23 wk due to false positives.

The sonographer didn't seem too confused, is this anything to be concerned about? All I've seen as far as info is that notching can lead to pre-eclampsia and pre term birth/low birth weight which I was already worried about due to low papp a. Thank you

The sonographer didn't seem too concerned**

Hi,
The uterine artery Doppler is checking for changes to the blood flow of the uterus that take place when pregnant. Notching on its own is not necessarily a problem but the readings being high alongside the notching can be a strong indication that baby may be small. These changes to blood flow often do not show until after 20 weeks gestation. So there can still be notching at this stage and it be normal..hence Re scan at 23 weeks. By 23 weeks if the uterine artery Doppler is still abnormal it means the reading is definitely abnormal and you will get extra scan to check on the growth of the baby.

Either way it's not necessarily a cause for concern at this stage and even if it is abnormal at 23 weeks it just means baby will be more closely monitored to check on the growth.

This is a relatively new thing so these changes to the blood flow would never have been detected a year or two ago and you would be none the wiser.. But it means much safer care.

Thank you for your reply it makes more sense now and I'm not as anxious!