Anyone NOT getting a scan/ultrasound? [Archive]

starparticle

01-07-2008, 10:48 PM

I fully agree with and understand not getting any scans. We'll be having one at week 14 or 15 to clear us of the condition DD#1 had, but after and before that I just don't think they are neccesary.

We didn't have any with her, and she had a lethal condition that *could* maybe have been detected. I'm so glad we didn't know before we did (around week 35, I started having complications and then we did have a U/S) and I would tell anyone who doesn't have any risk factors to NOT have uneccessary U/S. They just create stress and don't have any affect on actual outcomes.

SunnyKat

01-07-2008, 11:20 PM

andrea

01-08-2008, 12:27 AM

I got one done with my first baby, it was a long hour of hell as the tech pushed down very hard on my uterus the entire time and I actually BRUISED from it. My dd was so stressed from the us, that she kicked he so hard and flipped out the entire time and made it difficult for the tech to do proper measurements. The hospital had a no-revealing-the-sex policy, so we didn't even get to take a peek and the monitor was hidden from us.
I didnt get one done with my 2nd pg and wont get one done this time with my 3rd.

I see it as just a way to prepare for certain things.

Because of how inaccurate ultrasound diagnostics are, a woman I know spent 22 weeks of her pregnancy worrying, researching, 'preparing' and getting additional ultrasounds to check up on her ds, who was mistakenly diagnosed with a heart defect. He was rushed away from her at birth into NICU and underwent many unnecessary tests, before he was returned to her hours later at which time they told her that HOORAY! nothing actually appeared wrong with his heart. The numerous ultrasounds were wrong. Oh well, heres your traumatized baby. Needless to say, she did NOT get an ultrasound done with her next pregnancy. Stories like these are NOT uncommon!!!

frontierpsych

01-08-2008, 03:25 AM

I'm on the fence about one, because DH sees it as a way to bond with the baby before he/she is born. I might go to get a 3D u/s for that because they are non-diagnostic so I won't have to worry about the whole misdiagnosis scenario. Before he brought it up, however, I was not planning one. I'm just going to leave it alone for now and if it comes up again we can go from there.

SunnyKat

01-08-2008, 05:36 AM

Isn't it more the person who is reading the U/S that is the diagnostic problem?

erin_brycesmom

01-08-2008, 07:01 AM

I'm not sure yet. If we have one, it will be to find out the sex. I am conflicted on that though.

Alcyone

01-08-2008, 07:27 AM

Isn't it more the person who is reading the U/S that is the diagnostic problem?
That was my thought too. I have no problems getting an U/S. This is the #2 best country in the world to give birth in (behind Sweden) and the midwife program here is THE hardest professional program to get into in the country. Maybe I'd feel differently somewhere else, but yes I am definitely getting an U/S.

MissWorld

01-08-2008, 08:01 AM

I'm not sure yet. If we have one, it will be to find out the sex. I am conflicted on that though.

I'm on the fence for this reason as well. I actually do want to find out the sex...

starparticle

01-08-2008, 08:29 AM

I don't understand the connection between ultrasounds and the assumption of termination. I plan to have one ultrasound, but that doesn't mean I would terminate if the baby was less then perfect. I see it as just a way to prepare for certain things.

If you were told that your baby had a 95% chance of dying at birth, how would that affect the rest of your pregnancy? I've been there, and I can say without a doubt that I was happy I didn't go through half of my pregnancy knowing that. I just can't imagine anything more scary.

Now that we know we have a risk of a lethal condition, we would terminate at 20 weeks. This is seriously scary for me, since we have a 25% of it coming up. But there is no way I would put another newborn through being born at full term and the trauma of dying in the operating room. Not to mention me and my family's trauma.

If I knew that we wouldn't terminate, there is no way I would ever have an ultrasound. If we didn't have this crap going on, there is no way we would be having an ultrasound. I just feel like it creates either A) a false sense of security or B) a false sense of something being wrong. They are just so dang inaccurate!

All that being said, I can respect someone's choice either way - I know that for some people that little peek puts lots of fears to rest and can help bond with the baby. Anything that reduces stress, I'm all for. Just for me and for others U/S creates more stress than needs be.

Isfahel

01-08-2008, 08:50 AM

I had an u/c done for my first one just because I didn't know any better and that's what they told me to do, they being the mainstream doctors AR law said I had to see twice during my pregnancy. The rest was done by a midwife. The u/c tech took over 1/2 an hour and it was hell, I was 20 weeks and lying on my back hurt so bad. All that for a due date which I already knew because I was an expert charter and knew pretty much the day I conceived. So I havn't and will not get one with this pregnancy, I am going to go with an unlicensed mw mainly because I don't want to have to do the two doc visits. Also having done some research about u/c and knowing that they do cause damage, even if it's not discernable at this time.

GentleBirth

01-08-2008, 10:05 AM

We won't be having one this time. I didn't have one my last pregnancy either. I had one my first pregnancy and it was useless. Then I had one with my son 3D/4D to rule out twins and to see him with the 3D, I hated it I cried as soon as we left, the pictures were great and clear the problem was it took all of the suprise and mystery out of it. I was heartbroken and felt awful for a few weeks aftewards, I would never reccomend one just because of that. That said there is no reason for me to have one so we will be avoiding it. I also don't plan on using a doppler to her the hb anytime either.

freestyler

01-08-2008, 10:28 AM

This is our fifth baby and our fifth ultrasound-free pregnancy!

SunnyKat

01-08-2008, 11:10 AM

Before I even got pregnant I knew my baby was going to be born with a risk of terminal problems. Our best case scenario is that the baby will be born a carrier of what my husband has. Our worst case is that I am a carrier because I have a ethic backing for it and our child will be born with end stage liver failure.
I would love to be able to shield my baby from even pain of life, but sometimes all you can do is hold their hand and allow them to fight.
I wouldn't put my 90 year old grandfather through the fight, but I would go as far as I could for a baby.
Selfish, maybe. There really is no right answer.
In my opinion an U/S is a way to get a running jump start.
I guess we just make the best choices we can, and wouldn't life be boring if we made the same choices.

11yrsNoKid

01-08-2008, 11:19 AM

I had an ultra sound yesterday, and It freaked me out. Im sitting here stressing out, (trying not to)

I thought I was end of 6 or early 7 weeks. The ultra sound showed only a sac there, nothing else. The dr told me that either I am only 5 weeks or my baby isnt growing. I have to go back in two weeks, to see if baby is growing. So now i am uncontrollably freaked out for two weeks till i see the dr again. She said that one week can make a major difference and not to worry. Im 28 and this is my first pregnancy. I've been on fertility treatments for two year and finally got pg after giving up. I stopped charting and paying attention to my cycle, then got pg. Go figure. So this could be my mistake on the first day of my last period. I told dr that it was nov 16th. Dh said that it couldnt be cause our anniversary was on the 17th. He said that he remembers me saying a week later that I got my period, while having a discussion about possibly being pregnant then. That went like this, "I can't be pregnant cause I just got my period." lol. So anyway, can anyone ease my fears.... Has anyone had an U/S that early and saw only a sac???

starparticle

01-08-2008, 11:57 AM

SunnyKat - It sounds like you have plenty reason for getting an U/S. It can be very scary knowing something like that could be lurking.

11yrsNoKid - A number of things could be contributing to your scan...Your dates could be off, or sometimes being overweight or having a tiltled uterus can make those really early ultrasounds inaccurate. I'm so sorry you have to wait 2 weeks to find out what is going on! Did your doc over to monitor your HCG levels or anything? Not to hijack - maybe we should make this it's own thread :o

Hang in there!

crunchymomof2

01-08-2008, 12:00 PM

We're not planning on one right now. Barring any intuition that might tell me to get one. I have had one in each other pregnancy. The last because i was measuring 10 weeks ahead consistently. Although if i had waited about 4 more weeks my belly stoped growing and caught up with my weeks.

sarah2881

01-08-2008, 01:19 PM

I have not decided yet, I would like to avoid it though.

Alcyone

01-08-2008, 02:37 PM

11yrs - I'm sorry to hear you are going through that. It sounds quite likely that the dates are just off though, so it's almost certainly nothing. Even if your LMP date is right, that's not an accurate way to tell how far along you are since it doesn't actually tell you when you conceived. Personally, under "normal" conditions, I ovulate three weeks after my LMP, and all due date calculations are based on it happening two weeks after. If I'm under stress before ovulation, it would be even later. So it's probably just as simple as that. Good luck to you!!!

honeybee

01-08-2008, 03:04 PM

The first "natural" and "controversial" decision I made in my 1st pg was to decline the 20 week u/s. I'd never heard of Mothering, or AP or NP or anything else. I was reading What to Expect like every other new mother I knew.

But, my mother had also given me Our Bodies, Ourselves, which I referenced a lot. There was a short blurb in there about possible u/s concerns. I saw nothing mentioned in WTE, so I decided to do more research. I went online. I wasn't much persuaded by the "it causes cell damage" arguments. BUT, I was persuaded by the argument of frequent false positives. Why go through all that worry? I read an u/s board on a mainstream site, and all the posts were filled w/ worry about something an u/s tech did or did not say, and postings of u/s for people to look at and "diagnose." It was crazy.

And then I read that ACOG itself does not recommend routine u/s for low risk women, because they do not improve outcomes and actually increase the risk of physician-caused prematurity and surgical intervention. What I couldn't figure out, was if ACOG recommended against it, why was it so often done? My own doc... whom I loved... respectfully tried to convince me to get one, and I couldn't figure out what the big deal was (she only debated it with me once, and after that just asked me if I still felt the same way, and then aceeded to my wishes).

When I told people I was not getting an u/s they looked at me like I was crazy. I posted the ACOG recs just as an FYI on that u/s board, and I was blatantly told it was tantamount to child abuse to NOT get a u/s. :dizzy: I'm so glad Mothering posters are more respectful than that! :love

With my second pg and homebirth, u/s was never an issue.

erin_brycesmom

01-08-2008, 03:28 PM

A lot of things are commonplace with OBs even though ACOG does not recommend. The first thing that comes to mind is induction for "big baby". ACOG is clear that they do not recommend this yet OBs do it on a regular basis.

But yeah, when I was pregnant the last 2 times Tricare (government healthcare for the military) would not cover any ultrasounds for low risk moms per their written policy. I heard from someone that this has changed although I haven't confirmed it. But the military base here won't do them unless you are high risk and if you go out in town with tricare the only way you can get them covered by tricare is if they bill it as medically necessary but NOT as a standard thing for dating early or for 20 week measurements. I ended up getting one both times. First pregnancy they referred me to a genetic specialist because of my family history of CF and their standard was to do a level 2 u/s to check for signs. Second time was to verify suspected breech and he was breech.

moderngal

01-08-2008, 03:51 PM

I will get one next week. I had a horrible m/c last spring that surprised all of us (me, DH, my mw) because I was so debilitated by hyperemesis, even after the baby's heart stopped and my HCG levels dropped. It didn't go away until I had the D&E. So I feel like I need to know this baby is here and there's a cause for my morning sickness. Its purely to put my mind at ease so I can try to enjoy my pregnancy and stay focused through the ms.

But if I had normal, easy pregnancies, I'd skip the u/s. I don't think most women need them.

11yrsNoKid

01-08-2008, 07:13 PM

I really wanted the scan... I was so excited never thinking that anything negative would come of it. Now with all the stress, if I had to do it again... I would wait till I thought i was at least 12 weeks. Actually... I don't think I would even take a HPT anymore. If this one doesn't stick. I don't want to know that im pregnant till my water breaks....

At least then I wouldn't have any reason to stress out over the baby sticking. I guess getting the scan has its good and bad points.

My sister's baby was partially in the tube, and went back a few weeks later and it was in the right place. She had lots of pain, and my little nephew is now 2 almost three and is smart as a whip. The scan scared her, but it helped determine that the baby was in a bad place and that is where her pain was comming from.

Britishmama

01-08-2008, 07:29 PM

I'm looking at one at 5 weeks due to cramps and a odd feeling there may be more than one baby. I guess it's hard to know sometimes if you NEED them, the last one with my son showed his umbilical cord wasn't working well and he was small for gest. age, had I not had the scan I could have ended up going over on dates and him not surviving.

If you have no problems though maybe you don't need one, but it's nice to know for sure I guess

crunchymomof2

01-08-2008, 09:52 PM

Just some info for those interested. A friend of mine sent it to me.

Ultrasound Unsound, great book by Beverley Lawrence Beech

Quote:
The use of ultrasound in antenatal care is big business, and in any big business marketing is all-important. As a result of decades of enthusiastic marketing, women believe they can ensure the well-being of their babies by reporting for an early ultrasound scan and that early detection of a problem is beneficial for these babies. That is not necessarily so, and there are a number of studies which show that early detection can be harmful. Beverley Lawrence Beech.

From Sarah Buckley:
To my mind, ultrasound also represents yet another way in which the deep internal knowledge that a mother has of her body and her baby is made secondary to technological information that comes from an ‘expert’ using a machine. Thus the ‘cult of the expert’ is imprinted from the earliest weeks of life.

Furthermore by treating the baby as a separate being, ultrasound artificially splits mother from baby well before this is a physiological or psychic reality. This further emphasises our cultures favouring of individualism over mutuality and sets the scene for possible- but to my mind artificial- conflicts of interest between mother and baby in pregnancy, birth and parenting. http://www.sarahjbuckley.com/articles/ultrasound-scans.htm

More links:

http://www.plus-size-pregnancy.org/Prenatal%20Testing/prenataltest-ultrasoundsafety.htm

http://www.fda.gov/FDAC/features/2004/104_images.html

http://www.fda.gov/FDAC/features/2004/104_images.html

http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/ultrasound.asp

ktmama

01-09-2008, 01:27 PM

Thanks, mamas for all your responses. :love:

This, in particular, is resonating with me today:

Furthermore by treating the baby as a separate being, ultrasound artificially splits mother from baby well before this is a physiological or psychic reality. This further emphasises our cultures favouring of individualism over mutuality and sets the scene for possible- but to my mind artificial- conflicts of interest between mother and baby in pregnancy, birth and parenting.

Jaimep

01-11-2008, 01:00 PM

I had 2 with my first child. Several 4 I think? with #2. First they thought kidneys looked big, then they did it again a few weeks later, everything was fine, but they said I had high amniotic fluid, then they rechecked that later and it was not true either. What a bunch of stress for nothing.

We are going to skip it this time, unless the midwife thinks we need it for some reason.

purpleheather79

01-11-2008, 01:12 PM

I'm not having one unless we suspect twins again.

ktmama

01-13-2008, 06:07 PM

Heather, your video is wonderful!
:D

deymm

01-13-2008, 11:08 PM

Heather, your video is so moving. You are an amazing woman!!!! I am in tears here!

I did not have an ultrasound of any kind with DS1. Now with #2, I've had some spotting. Yesterday I had a regular ultrasound AND a transvaginal ultrasound. NOT FUN!!!!!! I will avoid all future ultrasounds if at all possible!!!

amitymama

01-14-2008, 03:28 PM

Great video Heather, very inspirational!

I'm still weighing my options on the scans. If I was to have only one, would it be more important to have the 12 week nuchal/dating/any twins in there scan, or the anomaly scan at 20 weeks? I keep thinking that it wouldn't matter if the baby had abnormalities at 20 weeks b/c I wouldn't abort, so what's the point? Though don't they check for low-lying placenta or placenta previa at that scan? What would happen if you didn't have a scan and had a placenta problem?

ktmama

01-14-2008, 04:30 PM

What would happen if you didn't have a scan and had a placenta problem? You mean in a homebirth situation? My plan would be to transport to the hospital that's five minutes away from my house.

amitymama

01-14-2008, 04:41 PM

What would happen if you didn't have a scan and had a placenta problem? You mean in a homebirth situation? My plan would be to transport to the hospital that's five minutes away from my house.

But how would the problem be diagnosed, is what I meant. Doesn't placenta previa always require a c-section? What would a labour where previa was present but undiagnosed be like? Would it be fine until time to push and then major problems?

vermontgirl

01-14-2008, 05:09 PM

I have been thinking about this so I was glad to see this thread.

I am not quite sure what I am going to do yet. With my last pregnancy I had THREE ultrasounds. Though it was fun to see the baby on the screen, I couldnt help but feel strange like I was seeing something sacred and private. I was seeing the intimate life of a child not yet born. I think these things are best left alone. I am always concerned about hospitals and doctors because they seem to scare women a lot and create problems that are not there. I had three ultrasounds because the first was at six weeks to see if I had an ectopic pregnancy. The second was routine and the third was because they couldnt quite see the heart in the routine one. Back then I had no knowledge of birth or interventions. I just knew of mainstream culture and what we are TOLD needs to happen during pregnancy and birth.

Now I am planning a homebirth and I am planning on not having an ultrasound but I do get a little scared when I think about placenta previa. Also, I had a friend who had a homebirth and she had an ultrasound because she had a little bit of bleeding. It was the ultrasound that let them know their son had a blocked intestine and needed medical care right after birth. If they had not had the ultrasound it could have been really harmful. I think these things are rare but I do think about it.

I am going to aim for no ultrasound but play it by ear and listen to my body. I dont want fear to direct me but I will have to pay attention to things and discuss it with my midwife.

paquerette

01-14-2008, 06:21 PM

amitymama, I believe previa is nearly always accompanied by 2nd/3rd trimester bleeding. You would likely have some indication that something was wrong that would lead you to seek help well before labor.

I am also in the no u/s (inc doppler) camp. I did not have any last time and I don't think there's a need for it this time.

treehugginhippie

01-15-2008, 12:58 PM

For all of the reasons already listed...No u/s (or doppler) this time :thumb

waterjen

01-15-2008, 12:59 PM

The first "natural" and "controversial" decision I made in my 1st pg was to decline the 20 week u/s.
I read that ACOG itself does not recommend routine u/s for low risk women, because they do not improve outcomes and actually increase the risk of physician-caused prematurity and surgical intervention.

Do you have a source for this? Is it on their site? I would like to check it out. THis is my first pregnancy and we're very low risk so far and planning a home birth with as little or no interventions if possible and safe; but I'm anticipating being perceived in by my ILs as radical and dangerous :dizzy:, so we're trying to research as much as possible so we have specific data to back up our choices and intuitive feelings. :innocent

Charmie981

01-15-2008, 01:20 PM

A previa usually manifests itself well before labor, actually, as painless bleeding that results when the cervix begins to soften and dilate in late pregnancy. It would be enough blood to warrant looking into it more closely, FOR SURE.

I had a client who had a serious placenta/cord problem, called a vellamentous insertion of the cord and a two vessel cord (three is normal) who had a COMPLETELY NORMAL sonogram. I went back and looked after her labor/transport/c-section...it said "three vessel cord with midline insertion." Nope, that was not the case. If her water had broken across one of those cord vessels, her baby would have died. So sonograms can work the opposite way also: I never would have encouraged someone with such issues to try for a homebirth, but she had a normal sonogram and a normal pregnancy, as far as any of us could tell. But even in that case, everything was fine.

We'll have a sonogram at 7 weeks hoping to see a heartbeat and another at about 20-26 weeks to see if we can know what this baby is and make sure that all is well inside there (as far as a sonogram can tell, anyway!), but that's it. I'm sure even that will be an unpopular decision in this area where sonogram is as routine as blood pressure checks!

amitymama

01-15-2008, 03:19 PM

Thanks for the info on previa, I was just curious to know how the problem presents itself if not diagnosed in a u/s. I'm seriously considering not having the 20wk scan. All I want to know is how many babies are in there and that's it! :lol

ktmama

01-15-2008, 03:38 PM

Your mw or doc should be able to palpate your uterus and determine the number of babies in there.

honeybee

01-15-2008, 05:36 PM

Do you have a source for this? Is it on their site? I would like to check it out. THis is my first pregnancy and we're very low risk so far and planning a home birth with as little or no interventions if possible and safe; but I'm anticipating being perceived in by my ILs as radical and dangerous :dizzy:, so we're trying to research as much as possible so we have specific data to back up our choices and intuitive feelings. :innocent

I read the statement and rersearch on ACOG's website.

waterjen

01-15-2008, 06:50 PM

thank you!:)

organicmommy

01-26-2008, 11:36 AM

I had 2 with my first, one very early because of fertility issues and 1 at the normal 20 weeks. Then with my 2nd I had the regular one around 18-20 weeks but the baby was WAY small so they did another one 4 weeks later, it just showed that the baby was still small but growing correctly.
I will be having one in the next couple weeks to determine a due date because I have to have another c-section, not my fave thing but its the way it is.

On the previa aspect it doesn't always manifest itself early, a very good friend of mine almost lost her life because she chose no u/s with her first, no bleeding in the pregnancy, however when her labor got going it abrupted from the opening and she had to have an emergency c/s which resulted in a lot of other issues with her following two pregnancies, including the loss of her 3rd due to failure to grow because the placenta was on so much scartissue. its scary but I will be taking the precautions of the u/s