Dangers of listening to fetus heartbeat in first trimester. Any sonographers out there??

[MrsBlue1986]

I'm panicking.

I had a private abdo scan yesterday at 9 weeks.

The sonographer played the heartbeat to listen to and also measured it to show 176bpm.

Since I got home I've read countless articles saying you shouldn't listen to the heartbeat in the first trimester as they're still so fragile.

And now I'm worried I've caused some sort of damage. I'm also super crampy yesterday and today, which is very new, as I've not been crampy at all yet.

Anyone got any advice ? Any sonographers out there? Thanks

Have you had multiple miscarriages though?
That's a level of anxiety that is truly impossible to imagine unless you have been through it.
Scans kept my mental health on the right side of the line, just.
Its just not realistic to tell a woman who had been through that to wait for the NHS scans.

OP I hear you. 5 mc here before my now 4 month old.
There's allot of scaremongering out there, please don't worry.
The NHS scanned me 4 times in the first trimester. And I went fir a couple of private ones too. Yes, arguably the NHS had a reason. But if the danger was substantial they simply would not do IT.

Honestly get off google. Anyone can post any crap they want. It’s done now - you can’t change it. If anything was known to cause a miscarriage, it would be well known.

I think you need to remember that mental health in a pregnant woman who went through multiple miscarriages is incredibly important, and valid.
If scans help that, then why is that such a bad thing.

No, I haven't. You're right, I cannot imagine that anxiety. I did have my own anxiety with my fertility and the fact it took me a long time to fall pregnant and I had to have surgery to enable me to. When I finally fell, I was terrified I would miscarry and I was very lucky to be able to have a scan under my fertility doctor at nine weeks (mainly to check everything was in the right place and whether it was a multiple pregnancy)

I can understand the urge behind wanting a scan, I really can however I worked in a women's health unit for four years and we had multiple women call us in a panic after paying for an early private scan and the sonographer could not see the baby or a heartbeat. Majority of the time the woman and the pregnancy was fine but the anxiety and stress those poor women went through was shocking.

I simply think these private scans should be unavailable before 7-9 weeks. As a society we are a victim of our own success as we can buy tests that tell us when we are 1-2 weeks pregnant and baby is little more than a bunch of dividing cells. Our parents/grandparents had to wait until they missed 2+ periods before pregnancy was confirmed. Again, those who have had treatment or tracking cycles etc will know sooner (I know the night I conceived because of the meds and tests I was having) whereas many couples TTC don't - at least they can't narrow down outside a 2-3 day window

I'm so sorry you are suffering this level of anxiety OP, it's completely understandable given what you've been through. I have had 4 losses myself and one was a missed miscarriage, which caused the most anxiety for me. The two children I had since I was extremely anxious about and used a doppler at home (not recommended but for me it was a sanity saver). I would find their heartbeats twice a day before I could feel movement, just for a few seconds to check. With the most recent one I was able to find her HB at 8 and a half weeks (I was pretty skinny and knew exactly where to point the probe but I don't recommend trying that early unless you can handle the stress). Anyway, my point in telling you this is, not to tempt you to get a doppler, as I think it would be too much worry for you, is to say that both of the kids are fine. They are 11 and 3 now, and had their HB's heard twice a day for the vast majority of their time in the tum.

That early cramping of the uterus stretching is scary isn't it. Can you let your toddler distract you? Maybe so some silly play or make some cool treats? It's all about getting through each day until you can hold that lil bean in your arms.

I just spoke to the private sonographer that scanned me yesterday. He said if I was below 9 weeks, then he wouldn't have done it as there is a small risk, but after 9 weeks it's perfectly fine as it's more established. He said this was "based on research"

Don't know how accurate this is.

That does tie in with the guideline which talks about the risky time being 8 weeks and under.

Don't worry. I had two babies in Germany and they ultrasound you every 5 minutes there it felt like and Germans don't have any higher rates of miscarriage. I had loads of scans under 8 weeks.

@MrsBlue1986 no, reading those articles doesn't put me off in the slightest. Like you, I need the constant reassurance of scans and hearing the heartbeat.

I have unfortunately had a very long road TTC both my DD and this pregnancy. Both were IVF. In between DD and this pregnancy I had two miscarriages. My first we had a scan at 7+4 and baby was measuring 8 days behind. I was told not to get my hopes up and by the next scan there was no heartbeat. My next miscarriage was 3 days before my first scan was scheduled. I bring this up because I know for a fact that scans or listening to heartbeat had nothing to do with those miscarriages. Many women blame themselves for their miscarriages - it was something they did do or something they didn't do. I know because I did it myself.

The reality is, almost all miscarriages are entirely out of our control. The pregnancy was never going to be viable. Sometimes that is a comforting thought, but sometimes it is a scary thought knowing you can only sit and wait.

But please please stop stressing, you have not done any harm to your baby. Worry won't change the outcome, only steal the joy from today. And today, you are pregnant, today your baby is thriving, today your baby has a beautiful heartbeat. And that's all you need to focus on right now x

Not helping here though is it? It's causing a different kind of reassurance seeking. Where does it end?

It ends when the baby is born.
There is literally no day during my recent pregnancy that I stopped worrying. About absolutely anything, there was no logic to it. If not this, the mind would have found something else to worry about. It's a form of self preservation. That is just the reality of pregnancy after loss. Genuinely I don't think it is a state of mind that can be understood unless it's been lived through.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to assume you hadn't had a difficult journey yourself.
That's really sad to hear that women have bad experiences of the early scans. Mine was so good and the few days after a scan were a break from the anxiety, albeit a temporary one. I do agree with you about the 7 week minimum, to be fair the sonographer was clear to me at 6 weeks that it might be too early to see a heartbeat (we did) but I dont know how I would have felt if we didn't. In which case you'd be right it would be devastating and unnecessary worry.

So I've since had an NHS appt today and I mentioned the private scan on Monday.

They said under the NICE guidelines, the private scan shouldn't have listened to the heartbeat under 12 weeks as there is too much thermal heat produced when listening to the heartbeat.

I've since reported the clinic to the CQC.

I've also found solicitors showing other unsafe practices. See screenshot - the bottom bullet.