A pregnancy ultrasound is a type of imaging test which uses sound waves for creating a picture about how a baby is developing in a womb of a women. This test is mainly used to check the pelvic organs of a women during pregnancy. There are two major types of fetal ultrasound which are the below.
Transabdominal Ultrasound – this ultrasound is done by moving a transducer over your stomach or abdomen.
Transvaginal Ultrasound – in this type of fetal ultrasound, a device named transducer get placed in your vagina for collecting reflections. This ultrasound is commonly used during earlyu pregnancy and it may also be done when transabdominal ultrasound doesn’t provide enough information.
Reasons for a Pregnancy Ultrasound
Your healthcare provider uses ultrasound for doing various things involving,
- 1. To check that you are pregnant or not.
- 2. For checking the growth and age of your baby which is helpful in figuring out the due date.
- 3. To check the heartbeat, movement, muscle tone, and overall growth.
- 4. To determine your uterus (womb) and ovaries (where the eggs are stored in the body).
- 5. To examine if you are pregnant with triplets, twins, or more.
- 6. To determine if your baby is in the heads-first position before giving birth.
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Your healthcare provider also performs this ultrasound for screening and other testing which helps in checking the health condition of your baby. Other reasons, your doctor may use ultrasound are the following.
- 1. To screen or check birth defects such as heart defects or spine bifida.
- 2. To help with other prenatal tests such as chorionic villum sampling (CVS) or amniocentesis (amnio).
- 3. To check for complications during pregnancy involving miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, and molar pregnancy.
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How to Prepare for Ultrasound?
You provider may ask to you to follow specific instructions to help in improving the quality of the pictures proceduced.
For example:- you may be recommended to
- 1. Avoid drinking or eating for few hours before the scanning. This may be required before scanning your digestive system, involving the gallbladder and liver.
- 2. Drink water and try to control your urge to urinate until your scan.
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During an Ultrasound Scan
Most ultrasounds scans takes around 15 to 45 minutes. This procedure usually takes place in the radiology department of the hospital and are performed by a sonographer, doctor, or a radiographer.
There are variant ultrasounds scans, depending on the part of the body is getting scanned and reason for performing an ultrasound. The major kinds of ultrasounds are the following.
Internal ultrasound scan – when the probe is inserted in your body.
External ultrasound scan – the probe is moved over your skin.
Endoscopic ultrasound scan – the probe is connected to a thin, long, and flexible tube and then passed further in your body.
After Pregnancy Test
For most of the women, ultrasound shows that your boby is growing normally and if your ultrasound is normal, you just need to makesure you are regularly taking prenatal checkups.
Sometimes, ultrasound may determine that your baby may need special care. For instance, if this test shows that your baby has spina bifida, then your baby may need to treated in your womb before giving birth. If your baby found to be breech during the ultrasound, then your doctor may flip the position of the baby to head-down and you may required to have c-section (cesarean section), in this surgery your baby is born through a cut which is made in your uterus and belly.
Pregnancy Ultrasound Results
Ultrasound is mainly used during pregnancy for examining the development of your baby. It also helps in checking the abnormalities that you may have during pregnancy. This scan is not 100% correct. However, the advantages of the ultrasound is that it a painless, safe, and non-invasive procedure.
Benefits of Pregnancy Ultrasound
- 1. The major advantages of ultrasound during pregnancy is that it is safe for both baby and mother.
- 2. This is also safer than X-rays.
- 3. Ultrasound during pregnancy helps in determining any problems and health condition of your baby.
- 4. It also helps in determining the gestational age.
- 5. It is also beneficial to know the position of the baby which further helps in avoiding complications.
- 6. Ultrasound during pregnancy helps in checking the growth or development of the baby in the womb.
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Disadvantages or Side Effects of Pregnancy Ultrasound
- 1. There are no specific risks found from ultrasound scan. The sound waves used during ultrasound does not harm you and your baby. However, ultrasound may not provide accurate results in some cases.
- 2. It may risky for women with twins and if a women during pregnancy have too many ultrasound scans. However, there is no evidence that it may harm a developing fetus.
- 3. It is suggested to avoid unnecessary ultrasounds during pregnancy.
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Conclusion
If you want to have pregnancy ultrasounds, then you can connect with Glamyo health or Glamyo Labs for right and accurate results. We provide different offers and plans where your full body tests are included.
Frequently Asked Questions
What weeks are pregnancy ultrasounds?
Most of the times, women have ultrasounds examination in their trimester at 18 to 20 weeks of their pregnancy.
What does a pregnancy ultrasound show?
Ultrasound during pregnancy helps in determining the health condition and movement of your baby.
Can too many ultrasounds harm your baby?
There are no evidence that having too many ultrasounds can cause harm. However, it recommen to avoid too many ultrasounds if a women is carrying twins.
When should I get my first ultrasound?
The first ultrasound is mainly done between seven to eight weeks for checking or verifying the due date, to look for a fetal heartbeats and for measuring the length of the baby in the womb.
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