20 week sonogram | Imamother

cbsp

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 1:51 am

amother [ Firebrick ] wrote:

I didn't worry the pregnancies where I didn't do it. I did worry the one where I did and had a false positive for ventriculomegaly 🙄

I'm almost 100% sure my rav isn't against it, didn't even have to ask. But I understand that the chance of finding out something you can actually fix in the womb is teeny, and that false positives are quite common, so that's why I don't.

Not always is it about fixing in the womb (although there are several conditions that can be addressed en utero, see below). Sometimes it's about assembling the right plan for the birth and team for care afterwards.

Going back to my experience, my baby's condition meant that he wouldn't have survived a natural delivery. One option being considered was to partially deliver via scheduled c-section at 39 weeks, perform the necessary surgery while he was still attached to the umbilical cord, then continue the delivery. (it didn't quite pan out that way since I went into labor at 34 weeks and it necessitated an emergency c-section. He was manually ventilated for 2 hours until they could operate on him. But I digress).

There was another baby in the nicu who was born with a CDH (diaphragmatic hernia). The mother and medical team had no idea that her baby had anything wrong with him and delivered at a hospital that was not equipped to deal with an emergency - much precious time was lost trying to figure out what was wrong and then transporting to a better equipped facility. The mother had not to gotten many of the ultrasounds that he doctor had recommended. (there was a lot going on in the mother's life prior to her son being born. It's not like she deliberately decided to ignore the doctor's orders)

Here are some of the many conditions that can be treated if detected properly before birth :

From https://gps.chop.edu/medical-p.....tment

Conditions we treat
Abdominal wall defects (gastroschisis, omphalocele)
Amniotic band syndrome
Cleft lip/cleft palate
Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH)
Congenital high airway obstruction syndrome (CHAOS)
Congenital hyperinsulinism
Gastrointestinal anomalies
Genetic disorders
Genitourinary defects including lower urinary tract obstruction (LUTO)
Lung lesions including bronchopulmonary sequestration (BPS), congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation (CCAM), hybrid lesions
Micrognathia
Musculoskeletal anomalies
Neck masses
Neurological anomalies (hydrocephalus)
Spina bifida (myelomeningocele)
Teratomas
Twin and multiples including conjoined twins, twin reversed arterial perfusion sequence (TRAP), twin-twin transfusion syndrome
Congenital heart anomalies

The center’s team has performed more than 1,629 fetal surgeries — more than any other program in the world.

Fetal surgeries offered include:

Bladder and chest shunt placement
Fetoscopic surgery
Fetoscopic laser ablation (LASER)
Fetoscopic bipolar cord coagulation (BCC)
Fetoscopic radio frequency ablation (RFA)
Open fetal surgery
Ex utero intrapartum treatment (EXIT)
Fetal cardiac intervention
IMPACT procedure

amother

Cerulean

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 3:17 am

My sister asked her rav and was told not to do the 20 week scan. I purposely didn't ask Smile

It's definitely not an halacha and if she would have insisted- for example, if she knew that she would be calmer that way, he might have said something different.
My mother once went to a mekubal who told her not to do any tests at all. My brother was born with a cystic hygroma, and if she would have done ultrasounds she would have been worried with no reason- becuase there's no way to see on u/s what the bump is- plus, she wouldn't been able to give birth naturally.
So I guess you don't miss out, but I would have gone crazy not knowing anything.

Success10

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 3:31 am

cbsp wrote:

The majority of these can A: be detected on a regular ultrasound B: are not able to be helped until the baby is delivered, it would simply be additional awareness and C: are not picked up with 100% accuracy on the 20 week US. There are many, many false positives, resulting in healthy babies and distraught mothers for no good reason. The absolute (and needless) panic the mother feels all those months is actually proven to cause harm to the fetus.

cbsp

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 8:51 am

Success10 wrote:

I thought we're talking about not doing regular ultrasounds.

The previous posters were saying that the midwives can pick things up by checking the heartbeat...

amother

Wine

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 5:00 pm

Sky, I am just wondering-were any of your children born with any sort of problem? Or were they all in perfect health with perfect bodies? I am only asking because I wonder if you would be singing the same tune if you gave birth to a child with a problem that you did not know about before, but could have known about had it been found on an ultrasound.

I am a mom who has a child with a limb deformity. What a lot of posters here do not understand is that finding out about a problem during pregnancy does not cause "needless worrying." Instead, it gives you ample time to process your emotions, learn about the condition, find doctors, set up a plan for after the birth, and figure out how you will break the news to family memebers/ friends. All of this allows you to give birth peacefully, and without a huge shock after the birth. I can't even imagine how terrible it would have been to find out about the problem in the delivery room, and how difficult and stressful the postpartum period would have been.

And to the posters who are saying that ultrasounds are not accurate, honestly, that is so untrue. if your general OBGYN finds something suspicious on an ultrasound, they should be referring you to an MFM who are experts in ultrasound. MFM's use 3D/4D imaging and they get very accurate images. Yes, it's true that ultrasounds are sometimes not accurate when it comes to the baby's weight. But when it comes to structural problems in the baby, ultrasounds are really very precise. I actually had such good ultrasound images that when we took my child to doctors after birth they did not request additional imaging studies such as xray and were able to rely on the fetal ultrasound.

People have to realize that it is 2020-no, you do not get enough information from doppler, feeling your abdomen, or being aware of your body. And no, ultrasound imaging does not produce a "ton" of false positives. A good MFM who is an expert in ultrasound can provide accurate, precise information. Knowledge is power.