Question re: scans

Isn't their a certain scan you can get to check if your baby has any abnormalities? I presuming the hospitals don't give you these scans as I didn't get anything of the sort with dd. So basically you have to hope for the best!!!! As I had a scan at 11 weeks and my next hospital appt isn't until I'm about 23 weeks thoughts are going through my head that maybe their might be some sort of abnormality and if their was one I'd like to know before the birth or even what does the future hold for the little one if their was an abnormality. I'm presuming I'm not going to get a scan at my next hospital appt so I guess I'll have to get it done privately somewhere Do any of you guys know where I could get this done? Thanx a mill girls

I got information from my gp about these: They are called 'Pre-natal' testing. Not routinely done in Ireland. Available only in the main Dublin Maternity Hospitals. You need to ask to have it done and your first hospital apt must be before 12 weeks. They are normally not done on women under 35 years of age. The Rotunda has a special Pre-natal Diagnosis Clinic, 01-8726572. Nuchal Scan plus blood test approx. €250 and you will need a referral letter.

My god, that's quite expensive. I'll have a chat with my doctor about it and see what he says. Thanx for that

There are a few options. You can get a Nuchal Scan (and blood tests) done between 11 and 14 weeks only to idenitfy whether there is a high or low risk for Downs Syndrome and other cromosomal abnormalities. This can be done in many hospitals and costs around €250. You have to request it. You can also go to a private place eg Ultrasounddimensions.ie in Blackrock do the scan for €145, (but I don't think they do blood tests) Nuchal Scan doesn't give a definitive answer - if you are high risk some people decide to have other tests such as CVS or Amnio to get sure answer. At around 20 weeks (so in your case possibly at your 23 weeks scan) many hospitals will give you a "fetal anomaly scan" ie a "big scan" to check for other abnormalities eg they look at heart, kidnies, brain, legs etc. Holles St does this for everyone. Some hospitals (eg Coombe) don't necessarily do this as routine so check with your hospital. Again you can get this done privately for around €165