Early scans and miscarriage risk . Is there an association?

[ChildOfTheMoon]

I'm due to have my 7 week scan next week.
I'm feeling really hesitant.
I've came across a few posts on here regarding this topic and when I took it Upon myself to Google it the amount of threads I found relating to this was astounding.
There's lots of women who claim they saw the heart beat and everything looked good only to miscarry in as little as 24 hours after a scan.
Wondering as to your experiences with early scan?
I read a theory that the ultrasound produces heat and this can affect the developing baby at a young stage

Unless recommended by a physician there's really nothing a scan will do so early so I personally would skip to avoid the extra anxiety it'll induce now you've googled and likely read tons of pseudoscience

20 week scan - worth having bc they'll do things from 23 weeks on if there's anything to be done plus you can prepare should you find anything out

Scans probably are completely harmless but after having early ones myself I really can't see the point in them... wouldn't have changed a thing in outcome and only had the effect of increasing anxiety

Both my dc had at least 4 early scans each due to previous miscarriages. I asked my consultant (who I trust with my whole heart) about whether scans can cause any harm and she reassured me that that wasn't the case and that was enough for me to feel better. I also found the early scans very quick. They do a few measurements and then it's over. I'd say 10 minutes max, but probably more like 5 minutes. The post 12 week scans are much longer. My 20 week one with my second took an hour.

I'd be more inclined to think that any pregnancy loss suffered shortly after a scan was likely to be coincidental. You have to keep in mind that early scans are not routine (in the U.K. at least) and so someone might be having one due to previous losses (like me) or because something doesn't feel right, perhaps they've had some spotting or loss of symptoms. In these scenarios they may have a higher chance of having a loss anyway.

For me though, if I was pregnant again, I'd wouldn't be put off having early scans based off my own experiences and the reassurance my consultant gave to me.

So many people, including myself have had multiple early scans (internal and abdo) and everything was fine with baby. Unfortunately those who lost their baby may have done so regardless of being scanned or not. If you look at scientific resources there is no link between early pregnancy scans and miscarriage.

If you’re super anxious about it raise it with EPU or your midwife and they can give you more medically based facts.

In the country I'm in , you have 3 standard scans.

dating scan - between 7/8 weeks
12 week then 20 week

this is for everyone so I don't think they are putting us all at risk.

The vast majority of MC's are due to genetic issues from the egg or sperm. They are very common! 1 in 4 pregnancies. If an ultrasound was a major cause for MC, don't you think this would be FAR more?

I've had 3 MC's and was lucky to get genetic testing done- which proved they were all due to genetic issues, and not from having an ultrasound. I put scaremongering from ultrasounds along the same lines as antivaxxers!

Early scans are great, I had one with my first and it really gave me reassurance. It wouldn’t be allowed in the UK if it caused the unborn foetus harm. Don’t read the scaremongering posts online. Those people probably miscarried, sadly, due to genetics.

There is no evidence early scanning causes miscarriages.
Unfortunately miscarriages are very common, the majority of miscarriages happen to occur within the first trimester, correlation does not equal causation.

I had recurrent miscarriages so with my last pregnancy, I had numerous extra scans. My 2 month old baby is currently asleep on me.

@Stressosaur I had ivf so it's routine to have an early scan to check it's in the right location

Ultrasounds are completely safe, unfortunately the babies that were lost after an early scan would have been lost anyway ❤️

I had so many scans with my last pregnancy due to a few previous losses, it was the only thing that would ease my anxiety slightly that everything was progressing ok. There's no way I could have waited until the 12 week one 🙈

OP sounds like a recommended valid reason to get one done then presumably ordered by a doctor? I had fertility treatments too but conceived naturally by surprise in what turned out to be the one that stuck and is now almost as tall as me 😅

My anti them is when done purely for reassurance- had the complete opposite effect on me and a decade ago the DM was running scaremongering headlines about them associating them with various things. Could've done without the anxiety... and I have made an assumption you might've read similar pseudoscience about them that worried me back then

scans use sound. All pregnancies are subject to constant sound, including ultrasound, all day every day

Early scans are standards of care in many countries. It valuable to make sure the pregnancy develops as expected, size, heartbeat, not ectopic. You can get more presize due date with an early scan. I'm all for it.

Miscarriage is more likely earlier on in pregnancy. So people having earlier scans are more likely to have a miscarriage than people having later scans.

A large number of people who have earlier scans are doing so due to medical history, or concerns or other issues such as pain and bleeding. All of which puts them at a higher chance of miscarriage, regardless of the scan.

Correlation isn’t causation.

I’m currently 18 weeks pregnant and I had 5 scans before 12 weeks due to recurrent spotting and my baby is doing absolutely fine 😊 try not to worry the scans themselves won’t cause any harm. Unfortunately there is people who miscarry not long after scans which is really sad, but this is completely unrelated and they would have miscarried anyway whether they had the scan or not x

I've had early scans with every pregnancy. The first due to bleeding and a good job too as it was ectopic and I needed surgery.

Second pregnancy due to bleeding before the scheduled scan at 5+4 to check location. The bleeding was the start of a miscarriage which the scan confirmed.

Third pregnancy a scan at 5+3 to check location. A scan at 7+3 to check viability. Am now 13 weeks have had my 12 week scan. Baby is progressing well.

Many women having an early scan will be doing so due to having an issue which needs checking out such as bleeding or a suspected ectopic. Every early scan I've had (6 so far) has been with a different doctor and all have said the scan won't harm the pregnancy.

I had a scan at 7 weeks and saw heartbeat, and then started to miscarry at 8.5.

The reason I haven't had one this time was I believe having seen the heartbeat and then to be told by EPU that there wasn't one but it might be too early to see one and to come back in a week was them attempting to give me hope, but as I had already seen the heartbeat I knew that wasn't going to happen.

As the 7 week was a private scan EPU couldn't use their report and didn't treat me as an actual miscarriage until a week later and by then everything had passed and I felt really alone. EPU did offer support after the second scan but I'd been through the worst by then.

I don't actually believe that early scans cause miscarriage but the thought still does play on your mind as your seek to find a reason.

I imagine women are more likely to post on here following a miscarriage in order to get support. The women who see a heartbeat at an early scan and go on to have a healthy pregnancy probably won't post about their scan experience. Ultrasounds are considered safe but sadly miscarriage in early pregnancy is very common, so those women would have miscarried anyway.

Having had my first scan at 12 weeks and been found to have had a missed misscarriagexat 6 weeks I will definitely be having private scans early next time, not sure when and how often yet. I had been carrying around a dead embryo for seven weeks by tge time I had it removed and wint be making that mistake again. Appreciate that I could still go to 12 week scan and be told there us no heartbeat but I will at least know if it gets past 6.