3D Ultrasounds

Reasons to Get Them

Typically, during 3d ultrasounds in the middle weeks of pregnancy, your practitioner will:

Check your baby's heartbeat
Your ultrasound technologist will measure the number of beats per minute to make sure your baby’s heart is beating normally.

Confirm your baby's location
This is to ensure that the fetus is growing inside the uterus and that the pregnancy isn't ectopic. Ectopic pregnancy means that the embryo is lodged in a fallopian tube or another location than the uterus.

However in the majority of cases, symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy are present early on and a scan is performed to confirm the condition.

baby size

Measure your baby's size
The sonographer will take measurements of your baby across the skull, along the thighbone, and around the abdomen in order to make sure he's about the size he should be for his age.

If this is your first ultrasound and your baby is found to be more than two weeks behind or ahead of where he should be, your due date is probably incorrect and you will be given a new one.

If there are any concerns about how your baby is growing, your practitioner will order one or more follow-up 3d ultrasounds to check how your baby is progressing.

Check to see if there's more than one baby
By this point, you will probably already know if you're carrying twins or higher multiples. The majority of women carrying multiples measure large during their first trimester and have an ultrasound at that stage to confirm how many babies they are carrying.

Check the location of the placenta
When the placenta covers the cervix (placenta previa), it can cause painless but severe bleeding in the later stages of pregnancy. Should your practitioner detect this condition, a follow-up scan will probably be ordered early in your third trimester to check whether the placenta is still covering the cervix.

It is important not to panic if find you do have this condition. The majority of placenta previas found at ultrasound before 20 weeks correct themselves before delivery.

More Reasons for 3D Ultrasounds:

Assess the amount of amniotic fluid in the uterus
There may be a problem if the sonogram shows that you have too much or too little amniotic fluid. You will be examined thoroughly to determine the cause and your medical professional will probably want to monitor you regularly using ultrasound.

Check the baby for physical abnormalities
Your practitioner will closely examine your baby's basic anatomy during 3d ultrasounds, including his head, neck, chest, heart, spine, stomach, kidneys, bladder, arms, legs, and umbilical cord to ensure they're developing as they should.

If a multiple marker or first trimester screening scan brought up any suspicious results, or if there is any other cause for concern, the technician will do a more thorough (level II) scan to look for symptoms of a birth defect or Down Syndrome.

Try to determine your baby's sex
Depending on the ultrasound fetal stages, usually, at a mid-pregnancy (16 to 20 weeks) scan, you will be able to find out your baby’s scan should you so wish. Unless, for some reason, your practitioner isn’t able to determine this.

For example, if your child's hand is covering his genitals during the scan. In some situations, it's important that your practitioner determines your baby's sex. For example if the baby is believed to be at risk of certain congenital conditions.

Inform your technician if you do not want to know your baby's sex so that the surprise isn’t given away during the scan.

A 4D ultrasound may also be carried out at other stages of your pregnancy to check on your baby's condition; as part of other tests, such as the nuchal translucency test, chorionic villus sampling, or amniocentesis; or as a follow-up to the multiple marker test.

...All fantastic reasons for utilizing 3D ultrasounds.

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