Welcome to #rainbowbabyhour

Tonight’s topic is scanxiety: the anxiety of scans in pregnancy after loss.

Please join in using the hashtag, or observe quietly. Anything you’d like to ask or share anonymously feel free to drop us a DM.

#RainbowBabyHour may cover some sensitive topics. We are not medically trained - please speak to your healthcare team if you are worried about your health or your pregnancy. You can also seek support through organisations such as @SandsUK.

It’s Gemma here hosting tonight (volunteer) and I had a grand total of 13 scans in my rainbow pregnancy which followed 2 consecutive losses. I have experienced extreme scanxiety firsthand and can’t even comprehend the thought of attending a scan alone.

If you’ve had to attend a scan alone due to COVID how have you found it? Any advice for anyone facing scans alone? What are your local hospital trust’s policies now on scans? #rainbowbabyhour

Have you seen the #ButNotMaternity campaign? Some of the policies around maternity care are leaving women facing anxiety-inducing scans alone at various stages of pregnancy (including pregnancy after loss) which must be truly horrendous #rainbowbabyhour

Our local hospital trust is allowing partners for the 12 & 20 week scans but nothing else. By the time I’d got to 12 weeks I’d already had 3 scans so this would have been 3 horrendous appointments with the worry/expectation of bad news #rainbowbabyhour

Our founder and chair @GrahamAmneet found herself in the situation of attending a scan alone. Not only does the scanxiety affect the pregnant person but what about the anxiety for the person left behind at home? #rainbowbabyhour

We talked about scanxiety briefly during our topic of pregnancy after recurrent loss a few weeks ago with @fmotala1979 @worstgirlgang @LaurenJanel03 @Rainbowbaby_m2g and how the anxiety can heighten the more losses you have #rainbowbabyhour

In PAL you may have the option for an early reassurance scan. Some people prefer not to take them but for me it felt essential for my mental health. When both of my losses occurred I didn’t have any physical signs until later so I always felt the need for scans #rainbowbabyhour

If something had gone wrong I’d rather know about it sooner than later. So even though each scan was incredibly anxiety-inducing they did provide me with the some comfort. ‘I am still pregnant’ #rainbowbabyhour

Of course that feeling only lasts a short while before the worries start again. My scans were at 7,9,11,12,14,16,18,20,22,24,28,32 and 36 weeks - that’s a lot of scans! Did anyone have any more thank 13?! #rainbowbabyhour

Did anyone find their worries varied from scan to scan? Early ones for me were about heartbeat & growth. Then about the health of the baby. My 20wk scan couldn’t get a good view of the heart so this was then a major worry for a couple of weeks until my next one #rainbowbabyhour

I wouldn’t say I was ever free from scanxiety but I think around 28 weeks when movements were regular and other checks had been ok was when I actually started to enjoy any element of it #rainbowbabyhour

Of course there are times when scans in pregnancy after loss unfortunately result in another loss. This happened to me. There’s an element of hoping for the best but preparing for the worst #rainbowbabyhour

And of course there are the varying ways that message can come across. It’s great to see the new guidelines that came out earlier this year for sonographers around delivering bad news #rainbowbabyhour

If you haven’t already, then I would highly recommend listening to @worstgirlgang podcast episode 6, with Emma, a sonographer who has experienced loss. She talks about some of the new guidelines #rainbowbabyhour

Like with any situation there are good and bad experiences. I had some amazing sonographers but I also had some very blunt ones who clearly didn’t recognise I was so anxious or if they did, did nothing to ease it #rainbowbabyhour

What advice or tips do any of you have for those facing the anxiety of scans in pregnancy after loss? #rainbowbabyhour

It’s a topic that I think affects most people facing pregnancy after loss. I wrote a post on Instagram where I listed some of my tips and advice

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCwUaHpHA7R/?igshid=uundyuzhuvkn

#rainbowbabyhour

The stand out piece of advice for me is to try and book an early appointment. The morning of each scan I woke up feeling so sick with nerves. I could barely eat or drink. It really helped to get it ‘over and done with’ first thing #rainbowbabyhour

If you can’t take someone with you to your scan, at least take them to the hospital so that they are close by, even though that may be sat out in the car park #rainbowbabyhour

We’ll call it an evening there. If anyone has anything they’d like to comment or add to this thread, please do! We know not everyone is free to join in during 8-9pm on a Monday evening! Have a lovely week #rainbowbabyhour