Diagnostic ultrasound is a method of imaging that directs powerful sound waves to and from your body to create images and videos of your body’s structures. Pregnancy ultrasound Lake Nona is a common area that relies on this imaging technology. Carrying out the procedure involves your health professional applying a gel on your tummy, which helps prevent air pockets that can interfere with the traveling of waves. A transducer device conveys sound waves to the body and organs of your fetus and echoes the waves back in the form of images or video.
Subsequently, below are the main benefits of ultrasound scans for your pregnancy.
1. It can confirm that you are pregnant
You may need to know pregnancy’s early signs and symptoms: missing periods, sensitive and sore breasts, morning sickness, frequent urination, and tiredness. One way to ensure you are carrying a child in your womb is to take a home pregnancy test.
Understand, though, that you can get a negative result, which may not be reliable. A negative test can stem from not following instructions correctly or testing yourself too soon. Furthermore, some medications may also affect your pregnancy results.
Therefore, it is best to follow up a home test with a clinical examination that often involves an ultrasound scan.
2. Allows verification of the gestational age
The gestational age refers to how far along your pregnancy is, usually expressed in weeks and days.
Although many people know that pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks, it is medically possible for delivery to happen a few weeks earlier or about a week late. Thus, ultrasound examination ensures that the growth of the fetus happens as it should, and the exact delivery date is known.
3. Checks if you have multiple pregnancies
You have a high chance of carrying twins, triplets, and even more than three babies, particularly if you benefit from fertility treatment. Having more than one baby in the uterus at once increases your risk of premature birth, pregnancy-induced high blood pressure, and placental abruption.
If your health provider knows that you are expecting more than one baby, there will be close monitoring of your pregnancy so that early detection and handling of complications happen.
4. Detects placental complications
When pregnant, the placenta is essential in supplying oxygen and nutrients to the fetus. The organ also eliminates waste products from the blood of the uterus.
During pregnancy, the placenta can change its positioning in the uterus and result in complications. Complications may include the placenta growing towards your cervix, some placental parts attaching too deeply to the uterus wall, and the placenta remaining in the womb after delivery.
An ultrasound scan will determine the existing placental complications that need a quick solution.
5. Checks if you have extrauterine pregnancy
Also called an ectopic pregnancy, the condition happens when a fertilized egg does not attach itself properly to the uterus. Therefore, the egg finds itself outside the womb, particularly in the fallopian tube.
Ultrasound examination will check whether or not you have the condition. If you have it, your health provider will discuss the next course of action with you.
Call Contemporary Women’s Care today to schedule your ultrasound appointment.