Cervical lengh ultrasound- to do or not to do?

[PurpleCath]

I'm almost 16wks pregnant with an ivf baby after many years of trying. I have recently came across the information about the short cervix and its impact on pregnancy. I feel some heaviness when I walk and pee quite often. I always thought these were classic pregnancy symptoms, but read a few stories where women experienced similar things and later found out that had a short cervix. My NHS trust only checks it if you had a previous cervix related problem. Now, I'm doubting myself- shall I book a private ultrasound, do I need it? Is it harmful as it is transvaginal?What was your experience?

I do think the pelvic heaviness is normal. I certainly feel it! I was (am?) also paranoid about cervical insufficiency - I asked the technician at my 20w scan if they checked cervical length and was told 1) they do not, unless you've had previous problems and 2) I should get off the internet.

It's fairly unlikely that there's anything wrong with your cervix - hard to get good data, but a couple of papers/websites suggest that fewer than 1 in 200 women are affected. If you would benefit from the reassurance then I don't think there is any harm in going for a private scan at a reputable clinic. 🤷 (I didn't - mostly bc it did not occur to me that it was possible to get a cervical length scan privately!!)

You really don't need to, but obviously if you want to it's your choice. It's another money generator for the private industry. If there was any reason for concern you'd have it done on the NHS. Transvaginal examination does not cause any harm to a pregnancy.

Thank you. I'll think about it for the next few days and if I'm still worried I'll go and do it privately x

@PurpleCath I had this exact anxiety and was super tempted to get it checked for peace of mind. My partner managed to hold me off doing so for a few weeks, by which time I was past viability so we just decided to wait till our first growth scan (which is tomorrow!).

It is rare but I had read horror stories when in a Google rabbit hole so couldn't get it out of my mind. So, like everyone will say, try to stay off Google if you can!

Congratulations!

At the hospital I attended they referred anyone who had a history of premature birth, even if it wasn’t clearly cervix related. I don’t think they would do them if they increased risk to the pregnancy since the whole point of the clinic is to try and prevent that, but you could certainly take medical advice on that. I think I would do it if they say it’s ok to do so, which I think they will. Cover all bases, as much as you can.

Hi @PurpleCath can I ask if you did book one privately?

Yes, I did and it gave me a huge relief. I didn't regret it! x

Thanks for very quick reply! How long did it take, and did they show baby on screen too?

In the clinic where I went to they said if you never had scans with them before, they'll perform a regular scan to check if baby is not in distress and the position of placenta, and only then do the cervical scan. Its transvaginal, but they didn't go "deep" at all and it was super quick, like 1 min x