Echogenic Bowel - advice and support

[8weekscrossed]

Hi

I have found a few older threads on this matter, but none recently.

I had a fetal med scan yesterday following a referral from my 20 week scan due to a bright bowel concern. Consultant confirmed an echogenic bowel and I’ve had 3 blood tests done to hopefully rule out CF and other serious concerns.

I was told it could be nothing serious and baby could have just swallowed some blood, but I’m not sure what this really means. If she has an infection, what happens next. I didn’t ask these questions and now don’t have another scan until 28 weeks. Has anyone been in a similar situation and able to share their story? Xx

How did everything go? I've just had the same thing at my 20 week scan and I'm really scared.

I scoured the internet for similar posts and was so grateful to see so many positive stories about Echogenic bowels so wanted to add mine for some reassurance for others.

during my pregnancy last year, our sonographer also found our baby to have an Echogenic bowel at our 20 week scan. We were referred to fetal medicine to double check and look for other markers for various complications. We had an appointment the following week with fetal medicine who confirmed the bowel was bright but no other abnormality markers. We went on to both have blood tests for cystic fibrosis and various infections which all came back negative thankfully. We were offered amniocentesis to check for chromosomal/genetic issues which we declined as we were hopeful that it was just swallowed blood or one of the other less frightening outcomes since there were no other abnormality markers.
I was asked to continue having growth scans throughout my pregnancy which added to the stress but was also reassuring when there were no other serious findings and by week 32 the bowel was normal. They did however continue to monitor and scan me right to the end.

I completely relate that this is a hugely stressful time with so many possible outcomes but the odds are completely in our favour here. I was stressed throughout my pregnancy even with the reassuring scans because I couldn’t believe so much fuss and so many appointments could amount to a healthy baby. But it did. We had our healthy baby girl in September and she is thriving and is just as gorgeous as her big brother.

After speaking with a friend she also went through the same with her first baby. She heard it’s super rare but seems it’s more common than we think. Scary all the same. Hope your pregnancy was still a beautiful experience for you 🩷