15 Week Scan - Baby Looks Squished, Fluid Level Low?

[StrawberryHalo]

Hi Mumsnet, I feel so silly writing another post my anxiety continues to get the better of me.

I had a private scan (UK) yesterday at 15 weeks which I thought went well. Baby was very wriggly and we got to hear their lovely heartbeat.

Looking back at my scan photos however it doesn’t seem like there is much fluid around baby - pic included. Is this normal for this many weeks? I can’t say I noticed anything at the time but emotions are heightened there and then, but I am worrying myself my amniotic fluid is low.

I know it was a private scan and fluid levels wouldn’t have been actively measured, but the sonographer worked the NHS for several years so I like to have think she would have said something if fluid was observed to be low. Plus, I imagine even private sonographers have a duty of care to inform you and/or make a referral to the NHS if they observed a concern but I don’t know if this is fact?

If anyone is happy to share stories/pictures of their scans from the same sort of time then that would be great.

Thanks in advance for your support x

Looks exactly the same as my 16 week scan with my little boy (he’s 9 months now). I think the sonographer would have raised it if it was an issue x

Remember it's a 2D image you're looking at, you can't possible see the amount of fluid around baby! I've had scan pictures look very similar, they'll have measured the depth of the fluid (which you can't see) and would have said if anything were awry x

Thank you very much for this.

Even at a private scan they’d have measured the depth of fluid? I had a report written but it didn’t include anything about the fluid but I suppose that wasn’t the purpose of the scan! x

Thank you so much and congratulations. Glad all was well for you 💕

They're meant to check all key measurements, if anything had felt off to them they'd have told you to get seen by a midwife. Remember they see thousands of scans, they know what they're looking for x

Thank you for the reassurance. I was trying to tell myself the same thing, especially as the sonographer has years of experience doing this for the NHS and she has been absolutely wonderful. I’m annoyed at myself for not noticing it at the time just to ask for my own peace of mind x

A lot of private bonding scans don’t do those checks at all, they are just there to show pictures.

OP I think the scan looks fine, but if worried contact the scan place and ask if they typically take measurements, or if they are just a photo bonding place. I certainly wouldn’t assume anything as private scanning clinics vary so much

Thank you for your reply, I thought that may have been the case as well but I would like to think that they have a duty of care to inform of any anomalies so that appropriate next steps can be taken via the NHS but I don’t know this for sure.

The scan place is CQC accredited and the sonographer has been exceptionally thorough thus far, and she is very reputable having been an NHS sonographer for several years prior but I just wish I had picked up on it at the time. But maybe that’s more so me reading into it afterwards due to my anxiety and perhaps if I didn’t notice it then, it’s because it didn’t look as concerning in real time. It probably sounds so silly to be stressing over this, but after a loss I just feel so incredibly worried that something will be wrong.

I have my community midwife appointment next Wednesday so I will bring the scan photo and ask about it then; hopefully that will help to alleviate any worries x