u/s if you had your time again..would you?

[Kazbah]

I have to admit that I'm missing having had scans already, and am counting down to my scan date ...

I did have a scan today though - to find out the state of my thyroid! Very funky!!!!!!

[Trillian]

I never had a lot of scans with any of mine.
With DS1 I had 3 - I had a dating scan because it was an unplanned pg and I had no idea of dates. Then the morphology scan and then one at 28wks due to decreased movement (turns out he was having a long sleep)
DD1, I had 3 - I had a scan at 9wks to check for twins because if there were twins then I would have had to change my pg care plan as my hospital did not accept twin pgs. Then I had the NT scan booked because the Dr needed to fill his quota LOL, but the week before that scan I had a major bleed so I was terrified I lost her so the timing of the NT scan was good. Then just the morphology scan.
DD2 I had 2 - one at 9wks to check for twins and then the mophology
DS2 I had 3 - 9wks (same reason as for the girls), morphology and then one at 39wks to confirm an OP position because he was so large, and my belly was so tight, it was hard to pinpoint exactly how he was laying. That was just a quick 2 minute scan in the Dr's room on his little portable machine.

In hindsight, I would do it all again except for the last one at 39wks with DS2 because it didn't really change anything to know what position he was in. It was certain that he was head down, but to me, knowing whether he was OP or not didn't matter. I had already had one OP bub and knew I would be fine during birth. The scans I had at 9wks for the last 3pgs were necessary because they were related to my care options because we are rural the small district hospital I go to does not cater for twin pgs, so if I ever had twins, then I would have to go to the larger base hospital an hr away. I was a lot more savvy with the last 3 and knew my dates etc and my Dr trusted that so it wasn't ever an issue. As for bonding with bubs, that happened as soon as I knew I was pg. I didn't need a scan to help me bond kwim?

Personally I think that going without a single scan for the entire pg is a bit crazy. I think that anyone should at least have the 20wk morphology scan because if something does happen to be wrong with your baby, it may be the sort of problem that needs immediate fixing at birth or soon after and if you don't know beforehand then you risk the life of your baby while they try to firstly work out what is wrong and secondly come up with a plan of treatment and precious time is wasted that didn't need to be if only a scan was done kwim? Or heck, even at a stretch you could have twins with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome that is often fatal, or conjoined twins, placenta covering the cervix etc - all things which would mean intervention is necessary.

[Jellyfish]

I just had the morphology scan at ~20w and if I had my time again would do similar unless there was a reason requiring further investigation (pain, bleeding etc).

[Mildez]

Just have to speak from a midwives point of view. I know this was more aimed at dating scans and nuchal translucency scans etc but if a woman came in labouring and hadn't had a scan thats the first thing we would do to ensure the placenta was in a safe spot for delivery. I think its very fortunate we live in times where this is an option as it does save lives. I personally know of several people who had undiagnosed placenta previa's two who died (with the baby of course) and all the others also lost their babies. This was prior to routine ultrasounds. They are all elderly now except my aunty (48) who had a stillborn DD 16years ago prior to routine scans. She presented as normal in labour with her 3rd baby and was labouring well until she had a massive bleed very suddenly. She had an emergency C/S but it was too late to save her bub.

I can see how early scans are not neccessary and alot inbetween but I would be concerned about a woman who presented with no scans the entire pregnancy. Yeah most of the time it would be fine and a healthy baby would be delivered but what about the others which wouldn't be? And some conditions in babies that have paeds at delivery, surgery ready etc knowing bub has a problem that can be treated? It is horrible to be in that position as a mother or health professional at delivery when a potentially treatable condition was undiagnosed and a baby/mother was lost or left with a disability as the cause wasn't known. I have been in that position and its not nice. Then usually there is an inquest into how it happened. Interesting thread!