Sonogram before a homebirth - Page 2

[mysticmomma]

Originally Posted by doulalove

if something were "wrong" that required immediate surgery, we wanted to know.

Such as? It's my understanding after talking to many OB's, midwives and pediatricians, that almost NOTHING requires IMMEDIATE surgery that you couldn't notice and transport to the hospital with the same outcome.

[dannic]

Ironically, this is my first HB and I'm not having one. I had one with each of my other two children. After reading more, I decided against it. ACOG and other groups do not recommend the routine use of u/s for pregnant women; rather, for high risk cases and those who have had other red flags appear. While they say they are safe, they have not tested for safety--x rays come to mind...and there have been some studies that have suggested that u/s changes cellular structure. Long term risks??? Who can say? Maybe one u/s won't be a problem for baby, but these days many have them at wach appt. ANd if you're planning on a larger family like me, them my possible risk is higher by receiving them with each pregnancy. If something else had come up, indicating a reason, then I would have had one. That's been my reasoning, anyway...

[alegna]

Originally Posted by dannic

ACOG and other groups do not recommend the routine use of u/s for pregnant women; rather, for high risk cases and those who have had other red flags appear.

This is an important note.

AND no studies I've seen show any improvement in outcome with routine u/s.

I think the security is false.

I think they cause a lot more problems and stress than they solve (seeing problems were there are none)

-Angela

[DoomaYula]

Ever since my first pregnancy, when I didn't find out I was having twins til 18w (!) I have had a quick sono at around 8w just to assure me it's a singleton, and then a gender peek at 18w.

[amylizpat]

If it's going to reassure you and help you go into the birth a little more confident and relaxed, I say go for it. Sure, folks can go back on forth on reasons for or against, but the bottom line is, if you want to take a peek to ease your mind about certain things, do it. I've had 3 going on 4 out of hospital births, and I've had one with each. I like to see the cord, placental placement, and facial features. Am I informed that an u/s isn't exactly accurate? Sure, but it helps me feel better, and that's important to me.

[mysticmomma]

Originally Posted by amylizpat

If it's going to reassure you and help you go into the birth a little more confident and relaxed, I say go for it. Sure, folks can go back on forth on reasons for or against, but the bottom line is, if you want to take a peek to ease your mind about certain things, do it. I've had 3 going on 4 out of hospital births, and I've had one with each. I like to see the cord, placental placement, and facial features. Am I informed that an u/s isn't exactly accurate? Sure, but it helps me feel better, and that's important to me.

:

[dogmom327]

We did one at 21 weeks and I'm glad we did. There are definitely risks to weigh but for us we had several reasons. First, it's our first baby and I think we both were lacking some confidence that this process really would work (this is getting better though!). Second, I did have some stress over the horror stories you hear (missing organs, placenta problems, etc.) and I felt like it would help me be calmer and more confident. Third, we really wanted to know the gender (boy!). Finally, DH wasn't/isn't terribly thrilled about the HB idea so the U/S really helped assure him that things were going well and also it seemed to help cement that this was a real live baby...his son! I'm so glad we had that moment and that I got to see the look on DH's face

Granted, it could have gone badly (false positive, bad tech, etc.) but we got lucky and I don't have any regrets :

[Eaglevoice]

I'm planning on my second homebirth. And I haven't had a single u/s this time around. I wasn't planning on having any u/s with my first pregnancy either, but at 8 weeks I started spotting heavily and cramping on one side and my mw thought I might be having and ectopic pregnancy, so I needed and u/s to make sure the baby wasn't implanted in my fallopian tube. Thank goodness she wasn't. I don't see any reason for u/s unless there is a medical reason to get one. I trust my body to make a baby, because that is what a female body is made to do. If I got an u/s at 20 weeks and found out something was wrong, I wouldn't terminate anyway. So I don't see any reason to take a peek. I believe in letting nature take it's course.

[LambQueen]

I fall into the "did it because it reassured me" camp. If there was a way to detect in the baby malformation of the heart or other organs, then I for sure would want to know that I would be in a hospital that has the highest level of NICU. No, it doesn't rule out everything, but it gave me piece of mind.

MW thought she felt a fibriod (though high up, and not really an issue), and then I got an U/S and there wasn't want there at all. So, I think an U/S can confirm or deny (is that the right word choice) certain things that might come up.

If it gives you piece of mind, then do it!

Keeping in mind, it's not the 100% guarantee of everything. Homebirth is still not the norm and for those of us who don't have as much support around us, or even time on our hands to read through the thousands of great posts on MDC to educate ourselves about why HB is truly a great option for low risk moms, I think getting an U/S is a good idea.

[LoveChild421]

I felt more at ease having one. I only had one my whole pregnancy but I did want to just make sure all the organs were in there and everything looked normal with the baby.

Granted, the technician freaked out and thought that my cervix looked open and thin when she saw it on u/s and got me quite scared thinking I would have to go immediately to the hospital when after the OB examined me it turned out my cervix was closed and thick like it should be at 20 weeks. I really didn't need all of that stress.

[mom2talus]

I did a 20-week US with my planned homebirth (which ended up with transport anyway) just because I wanted to make sure everything was "normal" before proceeding with the homebirth. Everyone's threshold is different - it's just what DH and I felt comfortable with.

[Patchfire]

You know, it's funny that you mention having an ultrasound because of having a homebirth... I guess for me it was a whole paradigm shift thing. I had two with dd and a hospital birth... none with ds and a homebirth. I did have this irrational fear of anencephaly with ds. I say irrational because I discussed it with dh. He asked me if I wanted an u/s to reassure me. I thought about it for a day or so. Then I realized that even if I had one, I'd still have this weird irrational fear in the back of my head, because even without having one, I was thinking, but an u/s could MISS it. Um, yeah. I could tell the difference between my usual 'intuition' type feelings and it, too.

[cal195]

I guess the thing is, people are saying, well, the risk is small, so if it reassures you, get it done. My problem with that is, WE DON"T KNOW THE RISKS. We don't know if they're very small or relatively large. X-rays, as Alegna pointed out, were used routinely for a while before it became apparent that they caused considerable risk of defects. I don't think the potential risk of ultrasounds is as scary as with X-rays (which carry a huge risk), because with X-rays the damage was easy to see once the damaged babies who had been subjected to prenatal X-rays started to be born. And we don't see waves of severely damaged babies, where the damage is clearly due to ultrasounds. But that certainly doesn't rule out that some damage is done. Perhaps subtle damage. Virtually no studies have been done on the safety of ultrasound. That is so mind-boggling to me.

Ultrasounds cause tiny pockets of intensely heated cells, and tiny air bubbles, within the fetus. There are called cavitation. We have NO idea of the effect of cavitation upon the developing fetus. What if the small pockets of intense heat are caused in the brain? Maybe the baby will not be brain-damaged, but merely won't be as smart as it would otherwise have been. Or maybe autism will be the result. What if cavitation occurs in the kidney? Maybe kidney damage will occur that won't be clinically noticeable until the kid is in his/her 20's. Maybe the damage will be done to the developing ovaries, and PCOS will result--which the baby won't know or care about until she is grown up and trying to have a baby of her own. Maybe the liver will be slightly damaged, and that will become apparent several decades later. Now maybe none of these things happens, or happens very rarely... but we just don't know. When we don't know the risk, and there is no known benefit (i.e., better outcomes are NOT seen with routine ultrasound), then TO ME it seems like it's obvious that it's better not to have an ultrasound done in the absence of some indication.

Having said all that, I know not everybody thinks the way I do or balances risk/benefit equations the same way, and I certainly don't judge or think harshly of anybody who chooses to get an ultrasound for peace of mind. I just think that the confidence in their safety and helpfulness is vastly overrated in the public eye. And I know it's hard to buck the trend--the vast majority of Americans thinks they're perfectly safe, and indeed that it's somehow dangerous NOT to have one. And even OBs, sadly, perpetuate these falsehoods, though they ought to be the ones to educate us away from them.

Catherine

[mama-a-llama]

Just FYI, ROUTINE u/s does NOT screen for all heart defects. At least according to my backup OB this time, they make sure they can visualize all four chambers, and that's pretty much it. And my personal experience: the u/s I had when pg with ds, before my first homebirth, missed TWO defects--one a hole probably too small to see, and one a defect of the aorta. And while it would have been nice if his ped had figured it out sooner before he was very sick at one month : , in his particular case it was not an immediate emergency.

We have not had u/s with this pg, although we would have if insurance would have covered it. It's not worth it to me to go out of my way to get one.

[EmmaJean]

I felt this way with my first child. I wanted to make sure the heart looked good (and the rest of the organs too). It helped ease my mind. With my second, I had one b/c I had no clue when I got preg. It found my placenta lying close to the cervix, so it just gave me something to worry about until I got rechecked later on!! What a pain. So with this baby we wanted one for gender (circ debate) and I was worried they'd find something weird but everything was fine. So anyway, I can understand how you're feeling for sure! They can be a big stress reliever or just give you more to stress about, so just be careful and do what feels right to you.

[NaturalTXMama]

I had one in order to ease my mind. I know homebirth is the best for my baby and myself, BUT I also knew I would relax more easily during labor if there were no "what ifs" in my head.