Echogenic bowel at 20 week scan

[fifitrixibell1989]

Hi all

Wondering if anyone has dealt with this recently as I am absolutely besides myself. I am 22 weeks pregnant. I had a scan at 19 weeks 5 days, everything came back fine. But they booked me in for a second scan 21 weeks 5 days to see the brain a bit closer.

At the scan she said brain was fine to we breathed a sign of relief. However, at the end she asked if I had had any bleeds which I thought was weird. I had had a tiny haematoma about week 8 but nothing bad. Turns out my baby has an echogenic bowel.

Next thing I know I am having a blood test for Cystic Fibrosis and TORCH to check for infection.

I was so terrified of the news and having not been given much info, I went for a private scan the next day where the doctor explained there were floating particles baby could have swallowed (despite the fact I said the haematoma was nothing and v early on.)

There's basically nothing we can do but sit and wait for the test results to come back. This was an IVF baby and after a horrible long year of treatment I was finally looking forward to Xmas. But it wasn't meant to be.

Would love to talk to anyone else in this situation xx

Oh bless you OP this happened to me.

IVF twins. Baby 1 had echogenic bowel. I was also beside myself like you.
I booked in at the Fetal Medical centre for an amino
Consultant was lovely and said it was very very low risk and I didn't need the amino.
I went home and tried to get on with it as much as possible.
Having twins one benefit is that they scan you all the time especially towards the end so they were able to keep an eye on it.
It turned out to be absolutely nothing.
They are teens now and that Baby 1 is having a lie in on her first day of Christmas holidays.
I don't know your exact situation but just wanted to share my experience. FWIW I also had a bleed around 5 weeks but I don't know if that affected anything. It was a long time ago so my memories are hazy and if anything, scanning etc will have advanced a lot in that time.
Wishing you all the best and a happy and relaxing Christmas

Thank you so much for your response.

We actually did IVF privately (2 years, £60,000) for another genetic condition I know I carry, so the idea I carry CF as well is pretty soul destroying as it could have been avoided. Thank you for your positive story I will try and keep it in mind, I just hope I am not waiting too long for test results.

No other issues with baby so far so it was a real shock

We also had this at the 20w scan, all tests came back clear and baby was born with no issues whatsoever. We were also really worried during the 2 or so weeks it took for everything to come back. The consultant I saw said sometimes it's just normal variation! I did also have a very very small amount of brown blood at 8 weeks that could have been relevant. They also mentioned that my being fairly slim could have been a factor too, I'm not sure how that factors in though.

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Thank you for your response! Yes they mentioned because I was slim it could have been that. Or the very light bleed early on - seems difficult to believe but I'd love if that was the answer!

A very kind midwife called me today to say she understood why I was worried, and that echogenic bowel is often picked up and turns out to be nothing. But that it's very stressful for the parents. Was just nice that she got it, as when it came up on the scan I was hurried out the room with no info.

The infection results came back negative so that's one positive thing - just not how I wanted to spend this Xmas after last one was also terrible (failed IVF transfer)

Thank you again for responding, it's giving me hope <3

Hi OP, I am somewhat relieved to have read this. Although you have my sympathies and thoughts. I had my 20 week scan on Friday at 19+6, and everything was fine (also fertility baby), all the way through they said how ‘perfect’ everything was, until the last bit where the Sonographer went out to ‘get another opinion’, to which a senior Sonographer came in to check and they said the bowel was lighter than they’d like but not bright as bone. We’ve been referred to fetal med for a scan on the 2nd Jan. no bloods offered. I did have on and off bleeding from the start until about 3 weeks ago and they said it could be that. My blood from 12 weeks gave a 1:5000 chance of DS, Edwards and Patau, our donor through the clinic would’ve been tested for CF so it would be very very rare for it to be that as both people need to be carriers so it would be a rare genetic mutation, but would also have other signs in the scan. So I sound very similar to you.
it’s an agonising wait. I work in ultrasound and we do see it in about 1 in every 100 scans, and 95% of the time it turns out to be nothing but I’m still terrified. Happy to chat, especially as we are due around the same time with our fertility babies x

Hi OP, me again. I had my Fetal medicine scan today and they said it’s just a mild Echogenic bowel with no other markers found. She said she only saw it as she was actively looking for it but otherwise could be easily missed. Rescan at 26 weeks to see if it’s faded but she’s confident it’s the blood he’s swallowed from my bleed.
they’ve taken bloods from me anyway but have said they had two cases of it today and that she sees it often and it’s usually nothing. Hope this helps you too x

we had the same, picked up at the 20 week scan but no bleeds and no signs of infection so we had the genetic testing and amnio, absolutely horrible time waiting especially the guilt over the amnio but Baby(now 5)was perfectly healthy we did find out that dh is a carrier of cf so his older kids may want to get tested before ttc.

Apparently it’s one if the most commonly picked up issues now as ultrasounds are so detailed and in most cases with no other indications it turns out to be nothing.

@Sugarcube84 thank you for this, it is really good hearing positive outcomes. So glad you and DD are ok

Thank you for this, I really hope so!

Hi! Sorry for only just responding.

I'm so pleased to know things are looking positive for you. It's not the news you want anytime, let alone at Xmas! That's great you got booked for another scan - I didn't, just a 28 week growth one. It's been 3 weeks since they took my blood for CF and no results back from lab - I'm really disheartened as I'd hoped we'd get them this week. I'm thinking of writing a letter of complaint as they didn't bother to test my husband and I am 25 weeks already!

Yes would love to chat! I don't know whether this all feels much harder after doing IVF, as I'm sure it's stressful for any parent. But they don't seem to take patients wellbeing into consideration much...

I haven’t heard from my blood yet either, although it’s only been a week for mine but I keep obsessively checking the NHS app.
so sorry you’ve had the same experience as me. I will drop you a message so we can chat x

I had this today too but I also had slightly too much amniotic fluid. The fact it’s not just the one thing is stressing me out!

How are you getting on?

I must say, my care has been exceptional. I had my scan, then another sonographer came in to check. Then they called the consultant and sent me down to see her straight away. She did a scan, then I waited and the midwife took my bloods for the CF and infection markers and I’m booked in for a GTT Monday and then another scan/consultant appt Thursday!

The urgency is also stressing me out though…

I need a GTT for the amniotic fluid btw!

It seems like different hospitals have different approaches!

So sorry you're going through the stress. I came back negative for infection and CF (well, a carrier of the major strains) so they didn't test my husband. Though I spoke to someone on another forum who said both herself + partner were tested at the same time.

If you have more amniotic fluid, maybe baby is swallowing it? I'm guessing the GTT is to rule it out?

They only booked me in for a scan 8 weeks after the echogenic bowel was found. I was a little concerned about that, now quite nervous for it.

I hope you get answers soon!!

My husband was with me yesterday and they did his CF test too. I’m really hoping both these tests are negative as I’ve read next steps is an amnio (well for infection). I have been poorly quite a lot this pregnancy with flu like symptoms.

Im not expecting the GTT to come back positive as I’ve never had it before and I’ve been overweight/obese in my last pregnancies and I’m not for this one but who knows. I know it’s not just about your weight.

When is your scan? That seems like a really worrying wait for you. I feel horrendous waiting till next Thursday (sorry I wasn’t clear - not tomorrow - but after I assume all my results come back)

That's great they tested your husband too. Saves a lot of time if one of you came back carrier (which is unlikely!)

I think flu like symptoms can be common - have you searched on reddit for similar stories?

I am getting tested for GTT simply because I'm 40.

Next scan is two weeks away! I was tempted by a private one but honestly part of me just wants to have faith. I am very much an anxious 'look for problems' type person but at 27 weeks this is very much out of my control. Who knows, I might change my mind!

From what I've ready, echogenic bowel can be there until birth, and then they find nothing wrong with baby?

Please keep me updated!

I’ve searched mumsnet and I’ve found lots for the echogenic wbowel which are very positive - like you say nothing wrong with baby at birth. Im holding on to the likelihood of it being something serious is quite low.

I think the fact I have higher amniotic fluid plus a low placenta (have to laugh or I’ll cry!!) is a bit more niche. I’m wishing I could sleep for a week but I know I’ll feel better once I hear back from bloods … well if they are negative …

But I’ll definitely let you know & think it’s always helpful for anybody frantically googling in the future! I really hope these two weeks go quickly for you.

20+ weeks I feel fully bonded and just can’t imagine not having this baby. I really do hope they’re ok.

Fingers crossed you get good news x

The low placenta can still move, right? I'm pretty sure they said mine was low too - perhaps I will get an update at the 28 week scan.

Yes same, fully bonded, which made the news that tests were needed far more distressing. Also didn't really want to share much with friends so felt quite isolated.

How are you? Do you have any news?

Yes, still loads of time for it to move so the least of my worries tbh.

I’m not doing well at all. I had my GTT today and cried because the nurse asked me when was I due & did I know the sex. I don’t even know if this baby will be healthy. Then cried again ringing drs as I want some time off work. I have anxiety in general anyway and I now can’t sleep properly and I am constantly thinking the worse.

The midwife said last weeks blood would take up to 10 days but chased them today and now she’s saying up to 4 weeks! I really don’t understand as an infection like CMV can cause serious issues - potential a tfmr. I don’t understand why it’s taking so long. I do have my consultant appt/scan Thursday where (I hope) I’ll have the results but I really don’t want an amniocentesis so I’m just hoping everything is negative & it will be something that we can just keep an eye on with no concerns.

The amniotic fluid + bowel point to infection though which is making me so stressed.

How are you doing?

I've just done some googling, and the echogenic bowel and extra fluid is also most likely nothing, right? Though completely understand why you're very anxious about it! From what I remember before, infection was about a 1% risk and CF was 2-3%. The infection results came back to us after about a week - it was the CF that too about 4 weeks. So I do think you should have those quicker!

I had the same thoughts - why do results for pregnant women take so long. We got an 'apology' from the lab as they noted it was an urgent test. To compare, my husband had CF test done privately and it took just under 2 weeks (over xmas) so still not super fast!

I was really messed up about the whole thing, couldn't stop crying or worrying - so if that's how you're feeling, it's totally normal.

I am now awaiting a 28 week scan on Monday and will let you know what they say.

Will be thinking of you and please send me a DM if you want to vent further before you get anymore news!

Yes could be nothing but my brain doesn’t concentrate on that does it? It concentrates on it being a tfmr, severe learning difficulties/deadness, CF.

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head and it completely messes you up! I just cannot visualise a healthy baby & rest of pregnancy, I have no excitement and I’m just worried. Then I feel like a total drama queen because the stats are on my side that it’s more than likely not serious. Like an emotions rollercoaster! I’m so sorry you’ve been dealing with these emotions too.

I can also see my consultant notes on badger app that it’s urgent bloods and consider invasive testing following results so I really do think/hope everything will be clear on Thursday… but we shall see. Sounds like CF is more tricky so thankyou for that info.

Best of luck for Monday & I will keep you posted. Praying I get negatives 🙏

*deafness not deadness!!

You WILL come back negative for CF, I just know it. Like I said in a previous post, I basically spent Xmas reading every single story about echogenic bowel I could find, scrolling back 20, 30 pages on Google. In the end, 98% of stories had a good ending. It was extremely rare (think I found 1 or 2 stories max) where BOTH people in the couple were carriers of CF.

I destroyed my own Christmas, which made me feel even worse. I just wanted to experience a nice festive period before my baby arrived, and just felt so hard done by.

Also, like you, just couldn't imagine a happy ending. Now I've calmed down a lot, and whilst I will still be nervous for next scan, I am no where near as bad as I was.

Chat GPT gave me a really reassuring stat too...given that in 2024 there were 600,000 babies born in the UK... and only 240 babies were born with CF... so 99.96% are unaffected.