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You’re lying on your back, your burgeoning bump covered in warm gel, as the ultrasound technician slowly slides the microphone-shaped wand called a transducer over your skin. She smiles at you briefly, then goes back to adjusting knobs on the digital ultrasound machine. You glance up at your partner, your hand tightening its grip. This is the moment you’ve been waiting for — you’re 18 weeks into your pregnancy and you’re about to have your first ultrasound.
The technician moves the transducer across your belly, occasionally pressing it down a little harder into one spot or the other. Don’t worry — this won’t harm the baby. In a few moments, a fuzzy shape begins to appear on screen. The ultrasound tech says softly, “There you go, mama.” Your partner leans down and kisses your forehead. You can’t stop smiling — after all these weeks of waiting, you’re finally getting to see your little one! Suddenly, you are overwhelmed with love.
The “whats” and “whys” of the ultrasound
A pregnancy ultrasound is a noninvasive diagnostic test that sends sound waves into the body through small pulses of high-frequency sound waves. The waves bounce off internal obstacles, which includes the developing baby. The waves then rebound to the ultrasound machine and create a picture on the screen.
In some cases, the ultrasound technician may perform a transvaginal ultrasound, in which an ultrasound wand is inserted into the vagina. This ultrasound method is generally used if you’ve experienced abnormal pelvic pain or bleeding or to look at the cervix for any changes that could lead to complications such as a miscarriage or premature delivery.
An ultrasound is a good diagnostic tool that allows your obstetrician to track your baby’s development. Your doctor can check your baby’s size, evaluate their limbs and bone structure, measure the amount of amniotic fluid, make sure the placenta is in place, and inspect the development of your baby’s organs. If you’re far enough along in your pregnancy when you have your ultrasound, you may be able to find out your baby’s sex.
In many cases, your doctor may prescribe an ultrasound in the first trimester of pregnancy. Though this is not standard because it is too early to see many of the developing baby’s limbs and organs in detail, a first trimester ultrasound can be used to estimate your due date, confirm the fetal heartbeat, make sure the pregnancy is developing in the right location (as opposed to an ectopic pregnancy) and determine the number of babies you have tucked away in there.
How many ultrasounds should I have during pregnancy?
Given the important information that can be gleaned from an ultrasound, it seems like you should be having one every time you have an exam, right?
Not necessarily so, according to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). The group recommends one ultrasound during pregnancy unless medically necessary, usually around 16 to 20 weeks' gestation.
However, as Dr. Jeffrey Ecker, chief of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Massachusetts General Hospital told Self, it’s not unusual to get more than one ultrasound.
“On average, women have more than that,” he said. He explains that additional ultrasounds may be needed if a woman experiences spotting during her pregnancy, has high blood pressure, she hasn’t felt the baby move recently, or her due date has come and gone. In these cases, doctors will order additional ultrasounds to ensure the baby is doing OK.
In the case of Allison Crinkley, an early ultrasound during her first pregnancy caused unnecessary alarm — it showed a shadow on the baby’s heart. “At the follow up ultrasound, that was gone,” she told MSN.
Are ultrasounds safe?
Experts recommend that you have a pregnancy ultrasound only when medically necessary. The main concern, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is that the sound waves in ultrasounds may heat up the tissues in your growing baby and cause unforeseen issues. The group stresses that doctors and parents-to-be cannot assume that the ultrasounds are completely safe.
That said, ultrasounds of babies have been in use for more than 35 years and researchers have not found that an ultrasound — or even multiple ultrasounds — affect the development of the growing fetus.
When it comes to 3D and 4D ultrasounds, which have boomed in popularity as a way to see what your baby actually looks like versus the fuzzy results from the standard 2D ultrasound, experts from both the ACOG and the FDA are in agreement: Pregnancy ultrasounds should only be performed by a qualified medical professional when your practitioner deems them necessary for medical reasons, not for the purpose of creating a keepsake.
Just one for now
You leave your OB’s office, a happy smile on your face and the image of your little peanut clutched in your hand. You can admit you were a little nervous about the ultrasound, but now there’s nothing but joy. You’ve talked to your OB and you’ve decided that the good results from this ultrasound means that she’s only schedule another one if your stomach measurements are off or there is an issue that might affect the baby. Although you would love to see another shot of your little ones sleeping inside you, you figure there will be plenty of time to take pictures of him — yes, a boy! — once he is born.
