Ultrasound/Sonogram and homebirth question

[thefarmerswife]

So here I am 22 weeks pregnant and ready for my second home birth!

I am doing my own prenatal care and in the state I live in (OH) home birth
is not accepted in the medical practice very well.

Here is my problem. I had a good friend watch her best friend lose a baby to Trisomy 18, and even though it is rare and just a genetic fluke I cannot get it off my mind.

Well I talked it over with my midwife and she suggested that if it is really bothering me that much it might affect my birth and i completely agree. So I would like to go get an ultrasound done just to make sure everything is normal, but how on earth do i go about doing this without any prenatal care or back up OB? uggh, I am lost and I figured this is the best place to start gathering ideas!

Any ideas/ info would be awesome!

[freistms]

Okay, so I know it's not the most above board thing to do, but if you call an OB's office and tell them you are looking to "switch providers," and that you are unsure of dates, you'll get scheduled for a prenatal visit and an ultrasound (though you may get sucked into one or two prenatals - which wouldn't kill you anyway). You'll get the information you need, and there's no reason you will be obligated to stay with them after that. They can't withhold any information from you. You are entitled to all of your medical records, so you can request a copy of the ultrasound.

[Cetan Luta]

Whatever you do, don't be honest with the OB about having a midwife, or planning a homebirth. They will refuse to care for you because of liability, since they will be the physician on record as treating you last (we were never able to get an ultrasound or blood testing done with DS2 because I chose to be honest about this in a non HB friendly state). I would fib it, and take them on as your care provider for now, get the tests you want, and you can always tell them you want to change care providers later. Your midwife may have some suggestions for you too, as these situations tend to come up every now and then for them in non HB areas.

[jeminijad]

Surely there has to be a way to get 1 ultrasound covered without involving an OB??

I know I've read about UP/UC mamas actually getting just that one test- the anatomy u/s- to check for the biggies like cord insertion problems, placenta previa, deformities incompatible w/life...

Eager to hear more responses.

[LittleBirdy]

I have heard of mamas being able to get in to freestanding imaging centers without a referral? Not sure on the specifics, but when my friend was pg and seeing an OB, her insurance would only cover the 20 week scan unless there was a problem. Baby was in a position that made gender determination virtually impossible and she really wanted to know the sex, so she went to the freestanding imaging center and paid out of pocket for another scan.

Hope that helps!

[thefarmerswife]

well i'm not really worried about insurence either. mine is super stinky anyways, so i really don't know where to go with that either :-/

what do the amish do? i know they have it around...somehow!

grr why is this so hard?!

[tygrss]

Can't your midwife fax a referral to a freestanding imaging center? I know that that was one of my options for the anatomy scan. I would ask her.

[claddaghmom]

We visited a freestanding center on their "come and see" day. Received a free scan, got a few cute photos and I got to peek at my baby to see what I needed to see. All in all, it was less than 5 minutes and helpful for me.

This time around, I'm not sure if I want to do this though. *sigh* decisions, decisions...

ETA: all I was requested to do was put down "DR X" and a phone number. I was at the time actually considering an OB and had her info.

[Galatea]

Here in PA, the vanity ultrasounds places require you to have had a doctor-ordered US before you can pay for your own US, so that wouldn't help.

[Galatea]

I am doing parallel care with CNMs b/c I do want all the tests and scans, and will just deliver at home with a CM.

[Defenestrator]

I know it's not close to you, but Sylvania Ultrasound in Toledo will work with requisitions from me. I feel that they have done a good job in the past with my clients. It is a few hundred dollars or so, depending on the reason for the ultrasound and how in-depth they are.

Good luck.

[~Kristina~]

This is why I stuck with my ob until the 19 week u/s and never told him about my homebirth plans. Which is kind of funny now, he should have known since I did the same with my last pregnancy/homebirth. I wanted the testing, I needed to know if anything was wrong and to make sure a homebirth was safe for baby. Then I dropped the ob.

[DoulaVallere]

Another option is to contact your local community college's ultrasound tech program. Ours does free u/s for moms so their students can get experience. They DO want you to have had a "real" one first for liability reasons, but we've just been able to sign a waiver both times.

[TabithaB]

Another State

Illinois is not HB friendly at all either. I have found that to get anywhere on stuff like that I have to go to St. Louis, MO. They are HB friendly. And I can just go into the sonogram places and they will just do it. But HB is legal there so that helps. They even offered to send the stuff to my midwife if I had one.

[jennica]

I'm afraid you've missed your window of opportunity for ultrasound. It sounds like what you want is the Nuchel Translucency scan, which checks for the three most common Trisomy's. You have to see an ultrasound tech that specializes in this type of scan and they measure the fluid in the back of the neck and see if the baby has a nasal bone, and with the results of the scan and a blood test they give you your results in the form of a risk factor. For example, if your risk is 1 out of a 1000, then you would probably feel pretty comfortable, but if it is 1 out of 20, you might opt for further testing such as an amnio or a CVS. This scan has to be done between 11 and 13 weeks though, and since you are 22 it is too late. You can have the normal ultra sound done that checks for abnormalities, but the chances of that picking up a Trisomy are pretty low and you can't rely on it for that. It might pick up soft markers, such as a heart defect, but it doesn't tell you a risk factor or tell you the baby has a Trisomy. I think the only way you could reliably test for that at this point would be CVS or an amnio.

When I was 12 weeks I found a midwife clinic that did the nuchel translucency scan for me even though I was planning a homebirth. They had no problem doing it, but my normal clinic would not do it at all since I wasn't their patient.