Prospective parents very often worry abouthow often you can do an ultrasound during pregnancy. Despite the fact that this method of research is safe for the baby and does not give the mother any unpleasant sensations, there is an opinion that too often (without appropriate indications) ultrasound should not be done, because its effect on the child has not yet been fully investigated.
Usually, ultrasound during pregnancy is prescribed 3 times:at 11-12, 18-22 and at 33-35 weeks. But if something goes wrong, the number of recommended ultrasound may increase. For example, if a baby is diagnosed with intrauterine growth retardation, then mothers are prescribed certain medications, and during treatment, an additional ultrasound is performed (and sometimes more than one) to assess the dynamics of fetal growth and the effectiveness of therapy.
Some future mothers, not knowing how often you cando ultrasound, generally refuse this examination. Some motivate their refusal from ultrasound by the fact that his influence on the child is not fully understood, others say that even if the baby has developmental pathologies, they will not terminate the pregnancy. But short-term exposure to ultrasound does not pose a danger to the crumbs, but the late detection of certain problems can carry a serious threat to his health. Moreover, most of the problems that can be detected with the help of ultrasound, are not a reason for abortion. Many conditions are successfully treated (the same developmental delay or placental insufficiency), others require close monitoring, and still others require a specific technique of delivery (sometimes in a specialized maternity hospital, which has the necessary means for nursing children who have ).
Many future parents want to find out their genderbaby before his birth, and therefore ask doctors how often you can do ultrasound for this purpose. It should be noted that determining the sex of a child during an ultrasound study is not an end in itself, but a “pleasant bonus” that can be obtained under favorable circumstances (if the crumb does not close the causal place with a pen or turn back). Therefore, it is not necessary to do additional ultrasounds in order to determine the sex of the baby.
Very often, the first ultrasound is not done on a period of 11-12weeks, and much earlier. The fact is that with the help of an ultrasound it is possible to establish the fact of pregnancy as early as possible and check whether the embryo is attached where it is supposed to (that is, eliminate the possibility of ectopic pregnancy). No other diagnostic methods can be established on such a short time. Therefore, if a pregnant woman has any complaints, pain in the lower abdomen, discharge - this is a direct indication for the ultrasound. How often can you do an ultrasound in the early stages? As a rule, it suffices once, however, if there is doubt, the doctor may prescribe several additional studies, during which it is checked whether the embryo is fixed in the uterus, if it has a heartbeat and if its dimensions match the actual gestational age.
Ultrasound, which is standard in 11-12weeks, allows you to finally confirm the fact of pregnancy, see how the future baby develops and establish the absence of gross developmental pathologies. Also at this time, the doctor checks if the crumbs have certain symptoms that may indicate Down's disease.
When to do a second ultrasound?Standardly, this examination is prescribed for a period of 18-22 weeks, but many doctors insist that a pregnant woman undergo it before 20 weeks. This is due to the fact that in the event of the discovery of any pathologies at this time, it is still possible to terminate the pregnancy due to the presence of medical indications. On the other hand, in 22-24 weeks, some organs and systems of the fetus (for example, the heart) can be considered much better. Therefore, if something has alerted the second standard screening of the doctor, he will most likely offer to repeat the examination procedure after a couple of weeks.
The third ultrasound is usually assigned to 33-35 weeks forin order to once again examine the organs and systems of the baby, check the condition of the placenta and umbilical cord (length and degree of "entanglement"), as well as assess the size of the child.
Do ultrasound before childbirth?It largely depends on the characteristics of the course of pregnancy. If previous studies have documented umbilical cord entanglement, abnormal presentation, if there is suspicion that the child is too large or if in the past the mother has undergone any operations on the uterus, then such an ultrasound will help doctors to evaluate all the risks and to develop the correct birth strategy. Also, an ultrasound scan before birth is done in the case that the mother “transfers” the baby, that is, when the gestation period passes over 40 weeks, in order to understand whether it is necessary to cause labor or you can wait a little more. If, on the third ultrasound, everything was fine, and the woman goes to the maternity hospital already in childbirth (with disclosure), then additional antenatal ultrasound is often not necessary.
