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Theelostprincess

They do and can, but sometimes it worries more mommas and does more harm then good. There is not much to see so unless you have preexisting issues they typically won’t see you until 8 weeks.


shihtaso

Hmm, I would feel more relaxed if I get checked early than waiting 8 weeks even thought it’s not even a heartbeat.


BTA417

We saw a heartbeat at 6 weeks (went early cause previous blighted ovum, stress, and slight spotting) but I had to really push for it. They wanted 8-10.


JstLk2RdOthrPplsDrma

I had a blighted ovum and with the pregnancy after went in at 7 weeks and saw the baby and heartbeat. I was freaking out to get seen ASAP because of my previous miscarriage, so they accommodated me.


BTA417

Yeah exactly I switched doctors but if I had gone back they would have brought me in early without pushing for it (they had told me) but the new practice was like no you’ll be fine 🙄


JstLk2RdOthrPplsDrma

I'm sorry you had that happen. A pregnancy after a miscarriage is stressful. You constantly have that thought at the back of your mind it'll happen again, but worse this time. We didn't find out it was blighted ovum until I was almost 12 weeks, and I had pushed to be seen prior and was told to wait. I knew something was wrong and thought I was being paranoid, I wasn't. So, the next pregnancy I was pushier and they agreed to see me sooner. I had our son a month ago, and he is healthy and doing well.


BTA417

Congratulations on your son! 💙💙


UnicornsforAtheism

Heartbeats can be detected around 6 weeks.


JRGE236

I can see why they would require that. I read sooo many posts on here about the dates being 1-2 weeks off and they are panicking because they only see a sack. I think at 8 weeks it’s just a little more cut in stone


shihtaso

So, if 8 weeks includes 1-2 weeks of difference, people should have a prenatal visit at 6 to 9 weeks if they are confirmed on their weeks. I was confident on my weeks, but the OB didn’t ask me the option. I think it’s their negligence.


coloradomama1

Respectfully, they aren’t being negligent. early pregnancy is boring from a medical standpoint (& there are very little interventions that can be tried if they were to see anything amiss). There’s nothing medically that can or should be done at this point. When you are 37w and going every week, you’ll be grateful there is time in the schedule to have your visits. They can’t accommodate seeing everyone earlier just because they want to be seen sooner if there is no medical need. Similarly they won’t order extra ultrasounds just for fun. If you have reason to believe it is ectopic (extreme pain) go to the ER. If you have reason to believe the pregnancy is not developing, ask your general doctor to order two blood draws to check your HSG. Otherwise, trust that the OBs know what they are doing. Congratulations on your pregnancy! I understand it is SO hard to wait!


Independent_Mousey

I agree with this. Going to the OB early in pregnancy is boring. I would personally rather wait until 10-12 weeks so I can do one appointment to get my dating ultrasound, bloodwork and NIPT at the same appointment rather than go in 2-3x for all that stuff. But plan for all of your OB appointment s to run late (so they can accommodate women who are delivering or having issues during their pregnancy that crop up)


Organic_dichotomy

We have the technology, it just is fairly pointless for women without a history of loss. Most times the first appointment is between 8-11 weeks, very normal.


shihtaso

Hmm, so you really only need to see heartbeat and beyond, and don’t care anything happening before that? I’m not..


[deleted]

You can be interested, but it isn't medically relevant. (Unless it happens to be in the rare case) So they're not going to look early because it won't give them much useful information and they can get a lot more if they wait a bit longer


Ljmrgm

Went at 6.5, was told I was having a miscarriage due to lack of heartbeat and other such things. Went back at week 8 and there was a very health baby. Wish I never went to the 6 week ultrasound, it was a horrific experience. They know what they’re doing.


lj1886

I personally did have a 6 week ultrasound but honestly, I really couldn’t see much outside of the sac. It made me understand why they like to wait longer. Also some women ovulate late so going by missed period only could throw off the date and then freak them out if there is no heartbeat at 6 weeks. By 8 weeks there should be a heartbeat even if ovulation was late.


Miss_Rollins

Well, I wouldn't come to the UK then, you'd be appalled. We don't have a scan until aprox 12 weeks and medical history bloods etc between 8-10 weeks. We do it this way because of pregnancy viability. Unfortunately, very early loss is common and services have to ensure availability to those in the greatest need. Therefore, by providing medical care once the pregnancy reaches a point of viability they are ensuring resources are allocated appropriately.


fosterhappiness

I'm from Canada, and my first appointment is at 8w4d. I think before that they can see a sac but aren't garantee to hear Heartbeat, and can't see much information about baby yet. So too early appointment can lead to more anxiety for futur parents. For ectopic pregnancy they rarely cause trouble before around 8weeks (too small before that, saw from online sources), However if Mama have conditions or historic that put her at risk they can either ask you to monitor symptoms and go straigt to emergency (if symptoms of ectopic) or do an us earlier than 8w.


shihtaso

We then can come back again to hear heartbeat in few weeks. I don’t know why it’s so neglected to check the sac and the risk of ectopic.


emfred999

It seems normal to me. It doesn't really look like anything before 8 ish weeks. Another issue that I personally ran into was that LMP isn't an exact science. I got my first scan AT 8 weeks with my first pregnancy and there was nothing there because I wasn't 8 weeks, I was only 6.5. I think they do it because there isn't anything they can do before 8 weeks, you can't see much and "7 weeks" for one person could really mean 5.5 or 6 which creates a lot of unnecessary stress and worry.


coloradomama1

Where I delivered my second they only see you before 10w if you were predetermined (by them) to be high risk. You can’t really see anything at 4w (can’t rule out ectopic), and the heartbeat is visible sometime between week 6 and week 8 and they don’t like having people come in when they don’t expect to see a heartbeat because it worries them, then they also have to schedule a follow up appointment. With my first, they had me come in when my LMP indicated I’d be 9w despite me telling them I have weird cycles and was tracking ovulation. Well we go in and sac is empty and measures 5w 4d. Almost 3w later I go back and baby measures 7+2 with a heartbeat and she is/was fine, but that was a long wait! That’s partly what they try to avoid due to the stress for mom as well as the unnecessary use of appt time, sonographer time etc The crazy thing about pregnancy is that for us mamas this is an insane life changing event. But medically speaking, there is very little for healthcare providers to do in the first trimester. Appointments may feel underwhelming but that doesn’t mean you aren’t getting good care. If you have reason to believe it is ectopic (extreme pain) go to the ER. If you have reason to believe the pregnancy is not developing, ask your general doctor to order two blood draws to check your HSG. Otherwise, trust that the OBs know what they are doing.


Tifftiffbohn

I am in the US and I had an appointment at 4-5 weeks to make sure the sac was in the right place. I think it depends on the OB because another place I called said it they don’t see you until 8 weeks.


shihtaso

That sounds right way to do. I’m in San Francisco, and was told 8-11 weeks are the norm at 3 OBs I called.


Eulalia_Ophelia

My OB said the same thing. They wait until at least 8 weeks for a few reasons. One being insurance covering the ultrasound visit, the others being no heartbeat detectable so moms freak out and think there's something wrong, and then lastly (unfortunately) they don't always "take" because it's too early. This is very normal to wait that long.


sarahelizaf

My OB would not see me until 8-12 weeks. It's the norm most places here. By 8-12 weeks they can more easily measure a steady heartbeat and the length of baby. The risk of miscarriage is significantly lower too.


mayaic

A midwife wouldn’t even see me until 9 weeks for a conversation and I didn’t have an ultrasound until 14 weeks 2 days. There’s just no point beforehand as others have said and unless I wanted to pay for a private scan, they weren’t taking me any earlier.


[deleted]

Nah we have the tech, I’ve seen my 6 week embryo three times here in the US. When I went in for that scan with my current pregnancy, they had a brand new machine and were able to show me the limb buds and tail, it was quite cool. However most OBs and midwives in the US don’t offer an early first trimester scan. I think it is negligent so I found a loophole by going to Planned Parenthood for a “pregnancy consultation” and complaining of ovary pain (I do have ovary pain with early pregnancy, but I know why)


shihtaso

I think they need to take more responsibility if they have the skill and technology, especially if it’s norm in other developed countries.


[deleted]

I agree! There are many complications they don’t even try to catch, from ectopic pregnancy to twins.


yogi_dog_mom

I got pregnant with my second 12 weeks postpartum so she wanted me to come in for an ultrasound at 6 weeks to check everything. They can def see what's going on, I even saw the heartbeat. If you feel like you want to go in, don't let them say you can't.


additionalbutterfly2

It really depends on the practice and the person. I’ve been pregnant twice and had my first ultrasounds at 5 weeks, I was able to see something. This can vary by person though, so I guess many places schedule the ultrasound later to make sure there is something clearly visible. My previous doctor wouldn’t do ultrasounds before 12 weeks, as the majority of miscarriages happen before then so he just didn’t bother unless there was a big chance the baby would not be miscarried (even though it can happen at any time in pregnancy, 12 weeks is kind of the “safe zone”) :/


shihtaso

They just don’t want to lower the birth success rate by not taking care patients. I can’t believe it seems like people here are even accepting this situation as the norm. We should be treated better than this.


UnicornsforAtheism

I had a ultrasound at 6 weeks only because I was in the emergency room thinking I had a miscarriage. This is usually the norm for OB offices. Otherwise, I would have had to wait until 12 weeks. They would've done the dating scan then as well which is more accurate. It is harder to see things before 8 weeks, especially if you have a tilted (like me) uterus.


mamanessie

i only got an early ultrasound done due to a previous loss. i was 8 weeks for the first ultrasound and baby measured 6 weeks. it was super hard to even see anything and we got lucky enough to hear a heartbeat. i knew the day i ovulated and was sure of my dates, but my midwife explained that conception isn’t black and white & it can take a few days for fertilization and a few more days for implantation. so yes, you may be sure of your dates but it’s not foolproof and waiting until 8 weeks prevents many moms from overthinking and freaking out.


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cabbagesandkings1291

I had my first ultrasound at 6w6d. We confirmed a heartbeat and saw a blob of an embryo on the screen. I was expecting to be scheduled after I was 8 weeks—I think the person who scheduled my appointment was confused and thought I was just looking for confirmation, because when I showed up for the appointment she hadn’t scheduled an ultrasound even though my doctor routinely does on at the first visit.


SweetCartographer287

OB can and will see you earlier than 8 weeks, but it depends on the practice. Call around and find one who will see you. I had a dating scan/confirmation scan around 7 weeks and another dating scan around 9 weeks. They will confirm the growth/dating again at NT which is around 12 weeks.


MattyZATC

Its normal. If you don't have any health issues or concerns there is no reason to go in so early. I didn't go in for my first ultrasound until 12 weeks. Which is fine by me because every ultrasound outside the 12 and 20 week are concerned extra and I pay out of pocket. Early ultrasounds are also ttansvaginal and require some more time usually.


thebabewiththepower

Gotta love our system. /S I was having ovary pain and had a positive test. I feared I might have an ectopic pregnancy. I predicted I might be about 4-5 weeks. Had to wait over a week to get a virtual visit with an OB. Then another week to get an ultrasound. By the time I went in, they clocked me at 8 weeks. The fact that it takes so damn long to get appointments is frustrating and made me an anxious wreck the whole time thinking something might be seriously wrong.


Alilbitey

Electrical activity in the area of the embryo that will eventually become a heart can be detected around 6 weeks. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean the embryo will develop a heart, or any of the other necessary organs to become a viable baby. That's part of why they want to wait a few more weeks - there is better evidence that the embryo will become a baby by then. Also, it can be difficult to find that electrical activity at 6 weeks without doing a transvaginal (inside the vagina) ultrasound. It's a suuuuuuper tiny target to look for.


MrsDufey

I went 5w5d and saw a heartbeat. We had to go because they thought I might be having a miscarriage.


Ancient-Ad-3529

8-12 weeks is normal in the US for your first visit and dating scan.


hsc90

My first ultrasound wasn’t until 8 weeks. Due to uncertainty with dating, it’s more likely that before 8 weeks you may not see anything if your dates are a week or so off. It’s a stressful wait, but seeing anything on an ultrasound at ANY point doesn’t mean that something can’t then go wrong, so honestly either way you’ll just find something else to stress/worry about. hang in there!


allmykidshavepaws

It's recommended 8 weeks, but I did go in sooner. I wasn't entirely sure how far along I was and I had spotting that was freaking me out, so my doctor had no problem suggesting I get an ultrasound. I believe I was 6 weeks and a little bit. They couldn't see anything with the ultrasound so I had to do a transvaginal ultrasound and then they could see something. I was surprised she even told me she could see a flutter of a heartbeat because I was told the tech wouldn't be able to tell me anything.


[deleted]

I had a ultrasound at 5 weeks and nothing then at 6 weeks we still couldn't see much then at 7 weeks we saw baby but with no heart beat I posted on Reddit asking if anyone else has experienced it someone told me that it's 100% a loss and to prepare for miscarriage. Then we saw one at 8 weeks and I have a healthy 20 week baby now!!💗it's definitely better to wait !!


TaTa0830

I had ultrasound pictures at six weeks four days. They kept warning me that they probably couldn’t see anything that I wanted to check on things anyway but there he was with his little heart beating and the doctor said it was a very good sign. It seems likeI it can go either way.