Worried bmi will impact scan

[Sara1988]

I'm size 18, 5'7 with bmi 35. I carry my weight around bully. I have my 12 week scan coming up and worried they won't be able to see. Has anyone had this? Will they do transvaginal instead?

They use sound waves to see the baby - it isn’t a light. You should be fine.

Fat around the belly can affect ultrasounds but I woudn't have thought it would if you are a size 18. My friend had one 3 years ago and they could not get a clear picture then- she was a size 26. She is now a size 20 and had one recently and it was fine.They were not for pregnancy reasons but were of her womb

Congratulations! They will be able to do it transabdominally, but I warn you they may have to push on your belly quite hard. I am a similar build to you and my 12 week scan is next month.

I’m a size 18 and carry a lot of my weight around my middle. I had my 12 week ultrasound last week and they couldn’t get a good view. They then tried a transvaginal one but baby wasn’t in a good position. They couldn’t get the measurements they needed for the nuchal fold so I’ve been booked for the quad test instead. On my paperwork it says because of high bmi.

I'm curvy (probably not technically overweight but not thin). They gave me the vag wand... it was fine. Just a bit of a surprise as I didn't even know that was a thing so was a little taken aback.

But even in my totally unprepared state it was really not a big deal.

Thanks all. Have has a transvaginal scan before and to be honest would rather have that than have them press really hard on my tummy! I guess it's just a wait and see.

Hi @Sara1988, I am BMI 37 and midwife had no issue with ultrasound when I was 12+4. I did have a private scan at 10+5 and that was not as clear via tummy ultrasound but they did manage it by pressing super hard. X

There shouldn't be any issue. I found they needed to press firmly to view baby