Important Tests during pregnancy help check the baby's growth and health, as well as the mother's well-being.
A prenatal ultrasound (or sonogram) is a test during pregnancy that checks on the health and development of your baby. An obstetrician, nurse midwife or ultrasound technician (sonographer) performs ultrasounds during pregnancy for many reasons. Sometimes ultrasounds occur to check on your baby and make sure they’re growing properly. Other times your pregnancy care provider orders an ultrasound after they detect a problem.
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- Importance of Ultrasound in Pregnancy
- Observations from USG Pregnancy
- Different Ultrasound Scans Offered During Pregnancy
- What is the use of USG in 1st trimester?
- What are the signs of early pregnancy on ultrasound?
- How early pregnancy can be detected in USG?
- What is basic USG in pregnancy?
- What are the stages of early pregnancy?
Importance of Ultrasound in Pregnancy
An ultrasound is one of the few ways your pregnancy care provider can see and hear your baby. It can help them determine how far along you are in pregnancy, if your baby is growing properly or if there are any potential problems with the pregnancy. Ultrasounds may occur at any time in pregnancy depending on what your provider is looking for.
Observations from USG Pregnancy
A prenatal ultrasound does two things:
- Evaluates the overall health, growth and development of the fetus.
- Detects certain complications and medical conditions related to pregnancy.
- In most pregnancies, ultrasounds are positive experiences and pregnancy care providers don’t find any problems. However, there are times this isn’t the case and your provider detects birth disorders or other problems with the pregnancy.
Reasons why your provider performs a prenatal ultrasound are to:
- Confirm you’re pregnant.
- Check for ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, miscarriage or other early pregnancy complications.
- Determine your baby’s gestational age and due date.
- Check your baby’s growth, movement and heart rate.
- Look for multiple babies (twins, triplets or more).
- Examine your pelvic organs like your uterus, ovaries and cervix.
- Examine how much amniotic fluid you have.
- Check the location of the placenta.
- Check your baby’s position in your uterus.
- Detect problems with your baby’s organs, muscles or bones.
Ultrasound is also an important tool to help providers screen for congenital conditions (conditions your baby is born with). A screening is a type of test that determines if your baby is more likely to have a specific health condition. Your provider also uses ultrasound to guide the needle during certain diagnostic procedures in pregnancy like amniocentesis or CVS (chorionic villus sampling).
An ultrasound is also part of a biophysical profile (BPP), a test that combines ultrasound with a nonstress test to evaluate if your baby is getting enough oxygen.
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Different Ultrasound Scans Offered During Pregnancy
Several ultrasound scans are recommended during pregnancy. Its your decision to go ahead and have each USG scan.
Dating Scan or Early Pregnancy USG
It is the initial ultrasound that is usually done in the first trimester. It can be done anytime during pregnancy. It is performed to estimate the baby's due date. It also confirms if your tummy has one or multiple babies and checks whether your baby is growing outside the uterus.
The NT scan is done after 11 weeks and before 14 weeks of pregnancy. The term 'nuchal translucency' refers to the important measurements taken during this ultrasound. This measurement will help your healthcare provider assess your baby's chance of having a chromosomal condition called Down Syndrome.
Just like dating ultrasound, this scan can also check your baby's growth, estimate the delivery due date and check the physical development of the baby.
A morphology scan is an ultrasound scan usually done between 18 and 22 weeks of pregnancy. This ultrasound can check the structure and growth of your baby’s body organs. Measurements made at the morphology scan help estimate your baby’s gestational age and size.
This scan can also check your baby’s heart rate and rhythm. The sonographer can make sure your placenta is in a good position and measure the length of your cervix. At the morphology scan, you can usually find out the sex of your baby. You will be asked if you want to know.
FAQs on USG Early Pregnancy
1. What is the use of USG in 1st trimester?
The ultrasound in the first trimester has the ability to confirm an intrauterine gestation, assess visibility and number of embryos and accurate date of pregnancy.
2. What are the signs of early pregnancy on ultrasound?
The signs of USG early pregnancy are here. A small black hole (the gestation sac) will appear within the lining of the womb. The embryo should develop a heartbeat.
3. How early pregnancy can be detected in USG?
Healthcare providers can detect an embryo on an ultrasound as early as 6 weeks into the pregnancy. An embry develops into a fetus around the 8th week of pregnancy.
4. What is basic USG in pregnancy?
Ultrasound is used during pregnancy to check the baby's development, the presence of multiple pregnancy and to help pick up any abnormalities.
5. What are the stages of early pregnancy?
Early pregnancy stages are divided into 3 stages and each trimester has 3 months each. The first trimester is from conception to 12 weeks, second trimester is from 13 weeks to 27 weeks and third trimester is from 28 to 40 weeks.
Final Words
Hoping that the data provided here about Early Pregnancy USG are helpful for you. You have to take 3 or more ultrasounds to know the health condition of the baby. Bookmark our site for more related articles.