Future parents very often worry about how often they can do an ultrasound during pregnancy. Despite the fact that this research method is safe for the baby and does not cause any discomfort to the mother, it is believed that ultrasound should not be done too often (without appropriate indications) 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 examinations may increase. For example, if a baby is diagnosed with intrauterine growth retardation, then certain medications are prescribed for the mother, and during the treatment, an additional ultrasound scan (and sometimes more than one) is performed to evaluate the dynamics of fetal growth and the effectiveness of the therapy.
Some expectant mothers, not knowing how often it is possible to do an ultrasound, generally refuse this examination. Some motivate their rejection of ultrasound by the fact that its effect on the child is not fully understood, while others say that even if the baby shows developmental pathologies, they will not interrupt the pregnancy . But the short-term impact of ultrasound does not pose a danger to the crumbs, but the untimely detection of certain problems can pose a serious threat to his health. Moreover, most of the problems that can be detected by ultrasound are not a reason for terminating a pregnancy. Many conditions are successfully treated (the same developmental delay or insufficiency of the placenta), others require close monitoring, and others require a certain delivery technique (sometimes in a specialized hospital, in which there are necessary means for nursing babies who have been born with various problems )
Many future parents want to find out the gender of their baby before it is born, and therefore they ask doctors how often it is possible to do an ultrasound for this purpose. It should be noted that determining the sex of a child during an ultrasound examination is not an end in itself, but a “pleasant bonus” that can be obtained under favorable circumstances (if the crumbs do not cover the causative place with a pen or turn their backs). Therefore, it is not worth doing additional ultrasounds in order to determine the gender of the baby.
Very often, the first ultrasound is done not for a period of 11-12 weeks, but much earlier. The fact is that it is with the help of ultrasound that you can establish the fact of pregnancy at the earliest possible time and check whether the embryo is attached where it should be (that is, to exclude the possibility of an ectopic pregnancy). No other diagnostic methods can be established for such a short time. Therefore, if a pregnant woman has any complaints, pain in the lower abdomen, discharge - this is a direct indication for an ultrasound examination. How often can you do an ultrasound in the early stages? As a rule, it is enough once, but if in doubt, the doctor may prescribe several additional tests, during which it is checked whether the embryo has fixed in the uterus, whether it has a heartbeat and whether its size matches the actual gestational age.
Ultrasound, which is usually performed at 11-12 weeks, allows you to finally confirm the fact of pregnancy, see how the unborn baby develops and establish the absence of gross developmental pathologies. Also at this time, the doctor checks whether the crumbs have certain symptoms that may indicate Down's disease.
When to do a second ultrasound? This examination is usually 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 if any pathologies are detected at this time, there is still the opportunity to terminate the pregnancy due to the presence of medical indications. On the other hand, at 22-24 weeks, some organs and systems of the fetus (for example, the heart) can be seen much better. Therefore, if something was alarming at 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 prescribed at 33-35 weeks in order to once again examine the baby’s organs and systems, check the condition of the placenta and umbilical cord (length and degree of “entanglement”), and also evaluate the size of the baby.
Is an ultrasound done before birth? This largely depends on the features of the course of pregnancy. If umbilical cord entanglement, improper presentation, if there are suspicions that the baby is too large or if the mother had undergone some operations on the uterus in previous studies, then such an ultrasound scan will help doctors assess all the risks and develop the right birth strategy. Also, an ultrasound scan before birth is done in the event that the mother has “changed” the baby, that is, when the gestational age exceeds 40 weeks, in order to understand whether it is necessary to cause a birth or you can wait a little longer. If on the third ultrasound, everything was fine, and the woman enters the hospital already in childbirth (with disclosure), then an additional prenatal ultrasound examination is often not necessary.