When do they detect heart defects?

MissMonica02

Hello ladies. I am just curious when the doctors determine if the baby has a heart defect or any other type of problem. On another board I am on it seems like ladies are finding out way late that there babies have heart defects and it worries me because I haven't had an ultrasound since week 20 and nothing was abnormal then. Don't get me wrong I will live my baby no matter what! I am just curious =]

Born2Fly

hmmm I had an amnio done about week 16.  It took 10 days for the results to come back.  The genetic counselor could pretty much tell us ANYTHING we needed to know as far as defects were concerned.  Thank God everything was great and LO was "perfect". 

I'm not sure if everyone is offered an amnio and obviously not everyone chooses to get one.  I also think you have to have it done between a certain time frame.  That is the only test that I can think of that you can do early on to detect any type of birth defects.   

   

JMULovin

Generally heart defects can be noticed during your 20 week anatomy scan.  They spend a lot of time looking at the heart.  That is part of the "check list" so to say for your anatomy scan, however, as your baby continues to grow, things can happen thus why many find out later.

newsgal

I have a friend whose newborn baby just went through heart surgery at a week old and NO problems were found with her heart throughout SIX ultrasounds (my friend is a cancer survivor, thus the extra u/s's). So, I'm not sure you can ever 100 percent rule out a problem. FYI, she detected the baby's problem herself when her daughter was uninterested in eating or doing any normal "baby" things the day she was born. A NICU check and transfer to Children's Hospital later detected multiple heart defects. Fortunately, the surgery went very well and she is on the road to recovery.

Not trying to scare anyone, myself included. We need to all relax and deal with whatever might happen if and when it happens. No use freaking out about it beforehand. Hoping I can follow my own suggestion...

klibby707

We had a fetal echo today (DH has a heart condition).  They can't even see the valves, so sometimes, you can't know until after birth.  We know the baby has four chambers...no leaks...but sometimes, you have to wait.