Incomplete 2nd 20 week scan

[GabbyGab]

Hi, just looking for some advice after a kind of upsetting re-do of my 20 week scan.

I had my first one and the sonographer could see everything apart from the heart in enough detail, and said this was due to the babies position.

They booked me in for today (2 weeks later) to rescan as baby will be bigger and hopefully in a better position. The scan today was so quick and I wasn't asked to wiggle/walk or do anything to get the baby to move into a better position. The sonographer said they couldn't see the heart clear enough due to positioning and my BMI and that was that. All over the letter they gave me it says "unable to see due to maternal habitus" despite this not being mentioned once on the one two weeks earlier.

I'm not precious and know I'm overweight and that it can affect the scans but was shocked at this as two weeks earlier it didn't seem an issue. The pictures and scan in general were so much less clear today that two weeks ago when surely as baby is bigger they should be better!

Do you think this was due to the sonographer or maybe I hadn't drank enough this time or something else? I'm really disappointed as we don't know 100% that the baby's heart is all ok and wish a bit more effort had been put in.

I've added some pictures - the clear one was two weeks ago and the super grainy one was today!

Hi, I’m sorry you’ve had this experience. It sounds like you’ve been left wondering if everything is okay with your baby. Can you contact the hospital again and explain the situation and that it’s causing you to feel stressed and anxious. I’m sure everything is fine though- did you see baby moving at all? If there was any concerning risks surely another medical colleague would have been called in. It sounds like the sonographer’s communication skills were pretty poor. If you hadn’t drank enough, she could have politely explained and tried to reassure you in some way. If you are really concerned and get no joy from the hospital, you could always head down to A&E to get checked if you’re not feeling baby move very much and explain the situation.
You shouldn’t be made to feel like you do. Pregnancy is so precious, it’s unfortunate you had a sonographer who seems to lack empathy, warmth and compassion.
Wishing you all the best. Xx

Hi, thanks for this! The sonographer was nice enough and did say that just because she can't see it clearly doesn't mean anything is wrong and they will just do a check after birth.
Baby has been moving and I don't feel super worried, it would have just been reassuring to know everything was definitely ok and I think I would have known if maybe a bit more effort had been put in like my previous one.
I'm going to speak to my midwife about it and have a growth scan in July too, today was just disappointing and disheartening that everything was blamed on my weight when it hadn't been mentioned before.

Thank you for your reply I really appreciate it xx