How often can you do ultrasound in pregnancy?

Future parents are often worried about how often it is possible to do ultrasound during pregnancy. Despite the fact that this method of research is safe for the baby and does not give mom any unpleasant sensations, it is believed that too often (without appropriate indications) to do ultrasound should not be, 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 studies can increase. For example, if a baby is diagnosed with a delay in intrauterine development, then certain medications are prescribed for the mother, and during the treatment an additional ultrasound is performed (and sometimes not one), which allows estimating the dynamics of fetal growth and the effectiveness of the therapy.

Some future mothers, not knowing how often it is possible to do ultrasound, generally refuse this examination. Some motivate their refusal from ultrasound that their influence on the child is not fully understood, others say that even if the baby develops pathologies, they will not interrupt pregnancy . But a short exposure to ultrasound does not pose a danger to the crumbs, but the untimely detection of certain problems can be a serious threat to his health. Moreover, most of the problems that can be detected with ultrasound are not a reason for abortion. Many conditions are successfully treated (the same delay in development or insufficiency of the placenta), others need close monitoring, and still others require a certain technique of delivery (sometimes in a specialized maternity home, which has the necessary means for nursing children who have born with some problems ).

Many future parents want to find out the sex of their baby before it comes into the world, and they ask doctors how often it is possible to do ultrasound with this purpose. It should be noted that determining the sex of a child during an ultrasound is not an end in itself, but an "enjoyable bonus", which can be obtained under favorable circumstances (if the crumb does not close the causal place with a handle or turn its back). Therefore, to do additional ultrasound in order to determine the sex of the baby, it is not necessary.

Very often the first ultrasound is not done at 11-12 weeks, but much earlier. The fact is that it is possible to establish the fact of pregnancy at the earliest possible dates and to check whether the embryo is attached where it is supposed to (that is, to exclude the possibility of an ectopic pregnancy). It can not be established by any other means of diagnosis at such short terms. Therefore, if the pregnant woman has any complaints, the pain in the lower abdomen, the discharge is a direct indication for the ultrasound. How often can you do ultrasound in the early stages? Usually, one time is enough, but if there are doubts, the doctor can prescribe several additional studies, during which it is checked whether the embryo in the uterus is fixed, whether it has a palpitation and whether its size corresponds to the real term of pregnancy.

Ultrasound, which is routinely carried out at 11-12 weeks, allows you to finally confirm the fact of pregnancy, see how the future baby develops and establish the absence of gross pathologies of development. Also at this time, the doctor checks to see if the crumb has certain symptoms that may indicate Down's disease.

When to do the second ultrasound? Normally, this examination is prescribed at the time of 18-22 weeks, but many doctors insist that the pregnant woman has it for up to 20 weeks. This is due to the fact that if any pathologies are detected at such a time, it is still possible to interrupt pregnancy in connection with 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 considered much better. Therefore, if something is alarmed at the second standard screening of the doctor, he most likely will propose to repeat the procedure of the examination after a couple of weeks.

The third ultrasound is usually scheduled for 33-35 weeks in 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 "confusion"), as well as assess the size of the child.

Whether do or make US before sorts or labors? This largely depends on the characteristics of the course of pregnancy. If in previous studies there was a cord injury with the umbilical cord, an incorrect presentation, if it is suspected that the child is too large or if in the past the mother had had some kind of surgery on the uterus, then this ultrasound will help doctors assess all the risks and work out the correct birth strategy. Also, ultrasound before the birth is done in the case, the mother sat down "overpowers" the baby, that is, when the gestation period is over 40 weeks, in order to understand whether it is necessary to call birth or you can wait a little longer. If, on the third ultrasound, everything was excellent, and the woman enters the hospital already in childbirth (with the disclosure), then in an additional antenatal ultrasound study there is often no need.