The 20-week screening scan is offered to everybody, but you do not have to have it if you do not want to. The scan checks the physical development and the baby's bones, heart, brain, spinal cord, face, kidneys and abdomen are investigated in detail however, it cannot pick up every condition; the sonographer will look for the 11 rare conditions below:
- anencephaly
- open spina bifida
- cleft lip
- diaphragmatic hernia
- gastroschisis
- exomphalos
- serious cardiac abnormalities
- bilateral renal agenesis
- lethal skeletal dysplasia
- Edwards' syndrome, or T18
- Patau's syndrome, or T13
Remember the scan only looks for these conditions and cannot find everything that might be wrong.