What are the most important things to check during ultrasound that might impact birth choices? - Page 2

[moonglowmama]

Originally Posted by sarabecca

Cheshire,


Anything else that would be critical to know before birth?
What about the brain and possible neural tube defects? What are the potential concerns with those two things that would change birth plans?

Just wanted to say that I had a daughter with anencephaly, which is a fatal neural tube defect. We weren't planning on having an ultrasound done at all, but at about 30 weeks there were indications that there was likely a problem-- I was polyhydramnios, measuring very large for dates (fundal height) and the heart rate was all over the place. At the time we even thought it was possibly twins. We did an ultrasound at 31 weeks. The anencephaly was very obvious. She was born at 33 weeks.

My second question to my midwife was "can we still have a homebirth?" and she answered yes. And we did. Having the knowledge ahead of time meant we were able to plan the funeral and prepare our son. After those preparations we went on with enjoying the pregnancy. Labor was much more difficult, as her head was not able to apply pressure to the cervix, but we had a really lovely homebirth, that I would not change.

Most of the other moms I know (online) who have had children with anencephaly find out very early, at the 16 or 20 week ultrasound, and in my opinion it's too long to have that knowledge. They end up grieving their whole pregnancies, which will be the majority of the time they get with their child. So, my stance is that sometimes it is a blessing to trust our instinct, and take things as they go. For most problems, there will be an indication sometime in the pregnancy or soon after birth. Very few diagnosis will cause a change in birth location, and very many diagnosis are wrong in the end, making parents worry for no reason.

Of course, we do ultrasounds a little earlier now (at about 20-25 weeks) since my risk of having another baby with a neural tube defect is higher.

Just something to add to your thoughts and the discussion.

[sarabecca]

I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your daughter Moonglowmama. Thank you for sharing your experience. How wonderful that you were still able to give birth to your little girl at home. You post really made me think. I have heard from moms whose babies were either incorrectly diagnosed with something in-utero, causing needless pain and worry, and moms whose babies were correctly diagnosed with something in-utero, and have heard some of them say they wished they hadn't known ahead of time. So there are definitely emotional risks to getting an ultrasound, not just physical ones. Our ultrasounds with dd1 caused needless stress and worry so I'm concerned that might happen again. Thanks again for sharing your experience.