Fetal Echocardiogram

bananna4

We had our NT scan yesterday - baby looked great and no concerns noted! The perinatologist reccommended that I have a fetal echocardiogram done at 22 weeks though simply because this is an IVF pregnancy. We have no history of heart issues in the family or any other risk factors, so I am wondering if this extra testing is overkill (and probably expensive - still need to look up whether our insurance covers it). He said that IVF babies have a higher risk of heart defects, but it sounds like there is only a 2% increase in risk compared to natural pregnancies when I looked it up at home. Anyone have any experience with this test or got a similar reccommendation?

JerseyBella

We had one done with DD and will again because DH had a hole in his heart that didn't fix it self. My MFM does it at the anatomy scan. It's really no big deal and just like a more extensive US of the heart. Our insurance fully covered it. Even with DH's history it only gave us a 2-3% increased risk factor. 

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kz's_girlygirl

We a pregnant through IVF as well and this has been suggested to us. Actually, my dr just said they will be doing it bc we are an IVF pregnancy. I'm all for it. One less thing to worry about.

bananna4

kz's_girlygirl said:

We a pregnant through IVF as well and this has been suggested to us. Actually, my dr just said they will be doing it bc we are an IVF pregnancy. I'm all for it. One less thing to worry about.

I'm glad to hear that you were told the same thing - at least it sounds like that is a standard reccommendation for IVF babies! It's just that I never heard of this test before so it took me by surprise.

katykatykaty

We had one with DD due to my congenital issues, and it was just like a normal u/s of the heart.

MA&CB

We will have an echo done at 32 weeks because my son had a heart defect.  We have to go to a different hospital to do it that specializes in it, and will still do our anatomy scan at our hospital at 18-20 weeks.

cawettig

I had to have three echocardiograms on Arianna because she wouldn't cooperate and would hide from the dr. It is another ultrasound. I loved having them done. I would close my eyes and just listen to her heartbeat. Don't worry about cost because it is all precaution. If it needed help after birth the hospital team would be better prepared. I would pay any amount for caution to help be safe for delivery.

2bKEdwards

We had one b/c my DH has a heart murmur, I wasn't told anything about needing it otherwise due to IVF.

VineyardMel

I had one done with DD because of a benign heart issue that I have. We did it at 24wks. It was covered by insurance and it's a pretty cool u/s--amazing to see the blood flow through the heart. It was nice to just know that her heart looked good.

Mommyglam2

My doctor recommended I get the scan as well because I have auto immune issues that put the baby at risk for heart defects. It probably is expensive but I'm sure it's beneficial to know especially for delivery.

orriskitten

I had one done because I am diabetic. It was simple and covered by insurance. I think mine was done around 14 weeks? Its all a blur of when I got tests done because my dx came so quickly and it was a lot to do in the first few weeks.