uterine dopplers demonstrate high resistance

[Snowfalls108]

Hey all,

Just wondering if any of you know what the implications of "uterine dopplers demonstrate high resistance" are?
I've got an appointment with the consultant tomorrow, but just thought someone on here might have some info.

Thanks

anyone?

not sure..... is the doppler the thing that they listen to the heart beat with????

Hi, I have been having 2 weekly cord dopplers since I had a uterine doppler 5 weeks ago which showed high resistance in both the cord and uterine arteries, all they told me was that it means you are a slightly higher risk of pre eclampsia and possibly a smaller baby.

Had another doppler this morning which showed the resistance is still high (should be slowly starting to drop, mine isn't) so now I am having to go see a consultant every 2 weeks instead of midwife, with growth scans every 4 weeks.

Hope tomorrow goes ok for you and they shed a little bit more light on it for you.

Gem x

Snowfalls - I take it you had a special doppler exam to check the blood flow through the placenta - are you around 20-24 weeks? Is this something they've put on the ultrasound report? Did they say there was a notch or anything like that?

Basically (and this is only from my own experience with DS when we had this sort of scan) and a lot depends on how high the resistance was...it can mean the blood is not flowing through the placenta too well and you may be more liable to IUGR and / or pre-eclampsia and that sort of thing. People deffo have this and go on to have healthy babies, people have this and go on to have healthy but small babies... hoping your consultant will reassure you more than I probably have - ring him / her if you can't wait overnight or ring your MW - I hate waiting for doctors to translate stuff off the bloody ultrasound report when the ultrasound person could've probably told you herself

Hi Gemdangracie and Owlingate,
Thank you so much for your replies.
Yup had a scan this morning (22 weeks) and they put this on the report, and said that there was notch.
How far on are you Gem?
Agree Owlingate - they are so mysterious with things, which just means you worry! Which probably wouldn't help with pre-eclampsia.
The baby seems fine at the moment - we also had a heart scan as well, and that was done by a consultant who was able to tell me that all was perfect, which is reassuring.
A small baby would be a first for my family - we're all normally over 9lb!
I wonder what will be suggested as the next step.
Thank you for your reassurance - it's great to have some ideas.

Snowfalls I am 28 weeks today! The growth scans are just to make sure baby is growing well and makes it easier for them to detect if there is any reductions that side of things.
They will probably want to keep a closer eye on you if you had notches in your dopplers you had today, which is a good thing as they have picked up on this early!
Keep me posted, and good luck for tomorrow!
Gem x

Hi Snowfalls...I too had this highlighted in my 22 week scan last week, both resistance and notches - the ultrasound person did not really explain anything except to say I had to have monthly growth scans from now. So of course I came home and googled it and freaked myself out! Since I am not being referred to a consultant yet I'd be really interested in hearing else what they say to you about it tomorrow, if you can update the thread? Hope all goes well xxx

Hey Ladies,
appointment at 2pm but will have no internet access until tomorrow and will let you know ASAP

Good luck with your appt Snowfalls. I had the same with my 24 wk doppler, high resistance and bilateral notching, plus I had pre-eclampsia in my last pg so am quite high risk. I am having 2-weekly umbilical cord dopplers, bp and urine checks, and 4-weekly growth scans - am 32 weeks now and so far everything fine, which is a big improvement on last time!

It only means that you are at higher risk of PE and IUGR, not at all meaning you will definitely get them - am sure you will get extra monitoring now to enable any problems to be picked up quickly. Hope all goes well.

Hi,
I had notches on my dopplers or whatever the correct term is, with my last pregnancy (along with placenta previa and many other problems). I had growth scans throughout then my son was born absolutely fine at 37 weeks by emer c section when I started to bleed because of placenta previa. He weighed 5lb 15oz and is now a healthy 2 year old. Sometimes I think we just get to know too much. Im now 5.5 weeks pregnant and being tested for toxoplasmosis after removing tons of cat poo from my garden last week not knowing I was pregnant, coupled with severe sickness and diarreah im thinking, here we go again! Good luck and enjoy seeing your baby scans every 2/4 weeks!

Oh yes forgot about that - I have loads and loads of lovely scan pics of DS and a scan pic from the day I went into labour (he was pretty hefty at 5lb 13 at 35 weeks). Good luck snowfalls.

Hi all,

So very good appointment with consultant who explained it all in simple terms.
Sure a lot of you already know this but for those who don't - you're ateries that flow into your utereus should during pregnancy have a constant flow of blood rather than a pulsing amount. So if you were to look at it on a graph it would be a flat line, rather than an up and down that you'd get when you look at any other arteries. When you have high resistance they basically haven't switched over, and are behaving like normal arteries. The notch means that before each big peak on the graph, there is another little one. The effect of this is that blood is not going through has efficiently as it should do. This can have a number of consequences, your blood pressure can increase in order to push the blood through, which leads to pre-eclampsia, or it can just mean that the baby is a bit smaller, or it can mean that everything continues as normal.

As predicted I have been scheduled in for extra scans - every 4 weeks to start, and then going to every 2 weeks. The doc has told me that I should basically relax and not get stressed.

Thanks all for your help, and I hope the info is of some use to others.

Thankyou so much for posting that, its helped me understand it and I'm sure will help others too. I have a midwife appointment tomorrow so will bring it up then and see if she can tell me anything more.
Just need to look on the bright side - more scans = more chances to see the baby!

Hi Zgaze,
no worries. Good luck with the midwife!

The uterine dopplers should normally only be performed in perceived higher risk pregnancies. A high value and the presence of one or two notches suggests an approximate 30% risk of the pregnancy devloping severe pre-eclampsia and growth problems for the baby. A negative test result is far more relevant (high negative predictive value) than a positive result (poor positive predicitive value), which is why the test is not advocated for 'low risk' pregnancies (it just causes unnecessary concern!).

Hope that helps others with a similar result.

Hi,
Me again! I didn't know exactly how it worked snowfalls so thanks for that. Just shows if you get a rubbish consultant your kept in the dark. I started to have high blood pressure and odemea at the very end of my pregnancy and they were checking up on me once a week incase I developed pre-eclampsia but not one person explained the link to me. I thought that I was just supremely unlucky! Does anyone know if you have had it before, is there more chance of you having the same problem again???