Echogenic Bowel - Waltham,MA

M K

We had the same issue with my daughter. If you want to know for certain the only way is an amnio. I had one with each pregnancy for different reasons but was lucky enough to have 2 healthy children.
One of the reasons the baby could show up with echogenic bowel is if you bled in the beginning part of the pregnancy. I didn't - at least not bleeding out. They told me it could have been a little internal bleeding that we didn't see. If the baby swallows the blood it can show up as echogenic bowel. But of course it also is an indicator for downs or spinabifida.
I had the amnio done because if I had to deal with either of these issues I wanted to know about it before hand so I could talk to other families dealing with it and how they have coped. Some people told me if I wasn't going to abort don't have the amnio some said have it. In the end it has to be a decision you are comfortable with - do you want to know for certain or not? If you want/need to know then have the amnio. I didn't have any issues except a little cramping with my first daughter and none with my second. Take it easy for a day or so and you shouldn't have any issues.

Hope this helps. Good luck, I understand the stress of it all.
L. M

All I can comment on is that I had amnio with both my girls (I was 36 and 39 when they were born) and it hurt less than getting a flu shot. Really, no pain AT ALL. They numb your skin and more. There is a slight risk of miscarriage with amnio, but if the doctor is careful with ultrasound to find a spot where there is only fluid and no baby, and if you have someone supporting you that allows you to do nothing for 24-48 hours afterward, there was no after affect with me at all. You also need to decide how you would deal with results that are bad, like Down Syndrome or other genetic problems. Good luck.

HI MK,

I just wanted to let you know I'm in a similar situation. This is my second pregnancy and I'm 34 (turning 35 two days before my due date). Everything else has been normal (nuchal lucency, blood tests, no other abnormal u/s findings). I decided not to pursue amnio in light of the isolated finding of echogenic bowel as I felt the risk of miscarriage from amnio was equal to or more than my risk of having a baby with congenital anomalies. I will say I had a follow-up u/s a few weeks later (to get views of baby's spine they couldn't get the first time) and it appeared that the bowel was no longer echogenic. Good luck to you! Try not to worry too much and enjoy your pregnancy!

If you are scared and feel confused about what the doctors have told you then get a second opinion. Brigham and Women's hospital and Children's Hospital in Boston are linked and have a co-treatment program for disorders diagnosed before birth. They would be the experts and would be able to tell you exactly what you should do. On the other hand you and your husband should be able to obtain genetic testing to tell if you are a carrier for Cystic Fibrosous, but make sure they test for the lesser forms of the disease too. An Amino would tell you if you were at risk of downs syndrome but you could also ask for another ultrasound in your 3rd trimester to check and see if the echogenic bowel is still there and go from that point.

It is a personal decision, of course, and as the other respondant said, most likely everything would be fine, and you could get peace of mind. But My sister-in-law did miscarry after an amnio, which she had only because she was an older mom, and then the baby was fine and it was miscarried ... so sad. So it does happen.

I don't know anything about echogenic bowel. I say you should ask what the benefits of the amnio would be. If your baby does have a problem, how would this knowledge help? If it would be tremendously helpful, then perhaps you should consider amnio. If it would only be nice for you to know one way or the other, then I'd skip amnio. My second baby had a cyst in a brain ventrical during my pregnancy. This put him at risk for trisomy 18. I did not have an amnio because chances were my baby was fine (he was, thank God), and I knew that even if he did have trisomy 18, it would be horrible and tragic, but knowing would not have helped me much (I would not have had an abortion in any case). The risk of harming a healthy baby did not seem worth the peace of mind the amnio would have brought. But if there is some medical intervention the doctors can do now or at birth if they know your baby has a problem, then amnio might be wise. Good luck with your decision.

I had the same results with my pregnancy at about 18 weeks. I skipped the amnio because my blood work and other indicators suggested that we were at low risk for the potential complications and also because I had miscarried prior (NOT due to an amnio) and just couldn't do anything that would increase the likelihood of that again. At about 20 or 22 weeks they did another US that was normal. My son (now just past 2) was just fine. My OB even told me the same thing happened with him and his wife w/ their first child. The Genetic counselor can help with interpreting the test results and they can probably do another US. These are decisions only you and your partner can make. It is scary and obviously not everybody that gets the test results I did does end up with a healthy baby, but MANY people do. Good luck and get as much info as you can and follow your conscience.

I had the same test results for echogenic bowel when I was pregnant - had the amnio and they found everything was fine. if you would abort the pregnancy or plan adoption if it turns out to be Down's, then you should have the amnio, so you can find out. if the test result wouldn't change your mind about having the baby, then there's no reason to have the amnio. good luck!
best,
E.