Questions And Answers About Ultrasounds During Pregnancy

If you are pregnant, you are probably excited about the impending birth of the newest addition to your family. During your pregnancy, your obstetrician may recommend an ultrasound to help ensure that your baby is healthy and developing properly. The ultrasound generates a snapshot of your baby and your womb, and this picture is called a sonogram.

Still, you may be unsure about the procedure. Here are a few questions and answers about ultrasounds during your pregnancy:

What is an ultrasound?

An obstetric ultrasound is a procedure that uses high-pitched sound waves, which are undetectable by the human ear, to create images or sonograms of your baby. During the procedure, the sound waves flow through your skin and are directed to your womb using a transducer, which is a wand-like scanning device.

Are ultrasounds safe?

An ultrasound does not use any type of radiation, as X-rays do, so it is considered safe for your little one and for you. 

What can a sonogram help detect?

A sonogram can reveal many different elements of your pregnancy, such as the answers to the following:

• How many babies are you carrying?
• Is the placenta positioned normally?
• Is there an appropriate amount of amniotic fluid?
• Is the baby growing at a normal rate?
• Are the organs of the unborn child progressing properly?

How many ultrasounds are performed during pregnancy?

The number of ultrasounds performed during a pregnancy is generally based on the specific details of the pregnancy. If you have a high risk pregnancy, your physician may monitor you and your baby more closely, and multiple ultrasounds may be scheduled, beginning early in the first trimester of your pregnancy. However, if your pregnancy is not considered high-risk, you may only have two ultrasounds scheduled. Typically, one is performed during the first trimester, and one is completed during the second trimester at approximately 18 weeks.

Are there multiple types of ultrasounds?

There are several different ultrasound procedures. Here are a few of them that may be performed during pregnancy:

• Transvaginal Ultrasound: a probe is placed inside the vagina to create sonogram imagery. It is typically used in the first trimester.
• Standard Ultrasound: a transducer is applied to your abdomen to display two-dimensional pictures of your baby.
• 3-D Ultrasound: a special probe is used to produced three-dimensional pictures of your unborn baby
• 4-D Ultrasound: special scanners display details of your unborn child's face and movements.

If you have questions about ultrasounds and the sonograms they produce, consult with your physician, such as All Women's Clinic. He or she can provide more details.