Anyone NOT get an NT scan?

Annbe1le · December 2011

Last pg we did it, b/c we'd already met our deductible. Our insurance doesn't pay for the scan or the bloodwork.

If we have no risk factors, is an NT scan a "must"? Or is it just something most people do? I've tried to google but can only find information about the test, not "who should have it done".

Any thoughts are appreciated!

krissyh21 · December 2011

My insurance covered it because I was past a certain age. Had I not been, I would have declined. I think a lot of people who are not in risk view it as an extra u/s to see baby. I had already had extra u/s at that point since I had a SCH causing bleeding.

MSaksa · December 2011

Its definitely a personal decision but we did not do it. We had no risk factors and had friends IRL that had un necessary worry after their NT and we had friends who were told everything was fine when it wasnt. Wouldnt have changed anything about the pg either.

amberleeb · December 2011

I did not because I had no risk factors and insurance did not cover it.

TxJen1972 · December 2011

I had it done with both pregnancies because of my age.

perry7285 · December 2011

i didn't because i didn't have any risk factors and i felt like it would just make me anxious.

MrsMAF · December 2011

We did not do the NT scan. I figured that no matter what it showed, it wouldn't make a difference to us. We wouldn't terminate. I know some people just like to know and be prepared, but I know they just give you your 'odds' and I knew it would drive me crazy if my odds were anything less then miniscule. I also knew that at 20 weeks would be the anatomy scan and we'd know if something was wrong at that point so why go through it.

It's a very personal decision...

futureMrs.Eanes · December 2011

I had it done with my first since insurance covered it and I was a nervous nelly. With my second, I declined. I did not have any risk factors and I had a healthy first child, so we decided not to do it.

pandabearlover · December 2011

I never had one. Honestly, it wasn't offered and I didn't want one so I didn't pursue it.

dana316 · December 2011

I didnt. I saw no need to do it. It wouldn't have changed the way I did anything, so it seemed sort of pointless.

pinkcallalily · December 2011

We did not do the NT scan with our son because we really didn't want to worry about getting bad results if everything was fine. We also knew we wouldn't terminate so we didn't see a reason to do it.

We did do it with our second pregnancy and will be doing it with this one as well. I think it really depends on how much you want to know. I'm still not sure if I'm glad we did it last time and I'm completely dreading it this time, but I know I will freak out even more if we don't do it.

I'm not sure if this next part will be helpful or not and I hope it doesn't bother you that I posted it. I almost didn't respond to your question because of what happened to us.

With my second pregnancy we had no risk factors, but I was very uncomfortable with the dating of my first two ultrasounds so we went ahead and did the NT scan because I didn't want to tell many people until we saw the heartbeat one more time. We learned at that time that our daughter had fetal hydrops and wouldn't survive much longer (they didn't have me do the blood work since it didn't matter so I never got any full results). This led us to do the CVS and we learned our daughter had T21 and follow-up ultrasounds showed she had severe heart defects. We still didn't terminate, but we had to go through weekly ultrasounds until her heart stopped.

This experience is why I say you should figure out what how much you really want to know before deciding to do the NT scan. Sometimes I wish we had never known what was going to happen. We would have had another 4 weeks of being excited and happy and then learned at my 16 week appointment that she had died. However, by doing the scan we had time to prepare ourselves and learn everything we could about what was wrong with her. I don't know if we would have received as many answers if we hadn't done all of the testing we did. Our situation is rare and I never expected anything like it to happen, but as I said before I was already uncomfortable due to the dating of the previous ultrasounds (she was measuring 2 weeks behind my dates, but had a strong heartbeat).

I'm not completely sure I want to do the scan this time, but I feel like I have to know if something is off. It could cause me months of worry and I may completely regret doing it, but I know I'll worry if I don't do it. Of course, I'm hoping it will give us some comfort and we can finally relax a little. As others have said, I think it is a very personal decision and it really depends on what level of knowledge you want.

ela81 · December 2011

We did not. We were not going to terminate the pregnancy. I figure it could have caused more worry than it was worth. I think we will do it next time just for the sneak peak:) I don't think there is a right or wrong here.

emiannie · December 2011

We didn't because there were no risk factors and while it was offered it wasn't encouraged. We were also of the mind-set that it wouldn't change anything so why bother? With our next we may change our mind since I've had a miscarriage now. Granted the m/c was before I would've had the NT scan...but still. I know I'll be hyper-anxious with the next pregnancy...so I'll probably opt for as much knowledge as possible.

Temp893722312503334 · December 2011

We did it with LO number 1 but decided to not do it this time. We did have an u/s around that time period but not an official NT. We decided that anything that they could see (DS etc.) we would not terminate for. Anything major would be seen on the 20 week u/s.

Its not that common here unless you meet the risk factors.

Fancy3Face · December 2011

We didn't do it with the twins pg and unless there's a reason for it (abnormality seen on prior u/s) we won't be with future pregnancies.

Our insurance covered it, I just didn't see a need.

Soon2beMrs.Sivert · December 2011

No, we didn't do it but we didn't have any shortage of ultrasounds.

firsttogo · December 2011

We did not have one for all three!

Annbe1le · December 2011

Thank you everyone for your advice. My OB seemed shocked when I said I'd think about it. And several friends I've asked didn't realize it was an "optional procedure". So yeah EVERYONE around here has one done.

I appreciate all your experiences and thoughts and will consider. Thank you!!

mmcarlson1 · December 2011

We opted out of it with our first and we plan on doing the same with the 2nd. We have no risk factors and I would rather not know and cause myself months of worry.

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