Pregnancy Ultrasound

Most mothers-to-be will be advised to attend their antenatal clinic before their pregnancy reaches 14 weeks for an ultrasonic scan and they may well be wondering why an ultrasonic scan examination is necessary, or what it is, or what the scan examination entails. This routine examination is usually performed again when your pregnancy reaches 18-22 weeks. In the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, an ultrasound scan can be taken by inserting a tiny probe inside the vagina.

The probe sends sound waves through the body and they form pictures that are sent to a monitor. This type of pregnancy ultrasound can show tiny embryos of just a few millimeters in length on the monitor. Measuring the length of the embryo can help to determine when the baby will be due.

Early ultrasonic scanning also lets health practitioners know that the fetus is alive and well, and will show if there is more than one fetus present. Even at this early stage, scanning can reveal any abnormalities of the chromosome by measuring the thickness of the skin at the back of the fetus’s neck.

In later stages of your pregnancy, gel will be spread on your abdomen, and the pregnancy ultrasound scanner will be passed over your uterus to scan the fetus and the placenta, and sound waves will send pictures to the monitor.

From 18 weeks, most of your baby’s organs, like the brain, heart, lungs and kidneys, can all be seen as well as its spine, skull, arms and legs. After 30 weeks scanning can estimate how well your baby’s growing and help practitioners to evaluate your placenta, pelvis and amniotic fluid. The number of scans you will need will depend on previous scans/blood tests.

To get a good picture, a full bladder is necessary for a pregnancy ultrasound scan, so most mothers-to-be are asked to drink two or three glasses of liquid an hour before the scan. Apart from feeling a little uncomfortable due to a full bladder, ultrasonic scans are painless and most mums’ love seeing the pictures of their new baby on the monitor.