Questions to Ask Your Doctor, by Trimester
- What can I do to help relieve morning sickness?
- How much weight should I gain during pregnancy?
- What vitamins or supplements do I need to take?
- What medications and supplements should I avoid while pregnant?
- Do I need to avoid anything else?
- Can I still drink coffee?
- Can I keep getting my hair dyed or highlighted?
The 20-week screening scan looks in detail at the baby's bones, heart, brain, spinal cord, face, kidneys and abdomen. It allows the sonographer to look for 11 rare conditions. The scan only looks for these conditions, and cannot find everything that might be wrong.
What questions will my midwife ask?
- The date of the first day of your last period. This will help your midwife to work out your due date .
- Any previous pregnancies and miscarriages.
- Any health issues in your family.
- Your physical and mental health.
- Your job.
- Your home life.
- Your lifestyle.
8 to 12 weeks: booking appointment. It's best to see your midwife or doctor as early as possible to get the information you need to have a healthy pregnancy. Some tests, such as screening for sickle cell and thalassaemia, should be done before you're 10 weeks pregnant.
Most healthy women receive two ultrasound scans during pregnancy. "The first is, ideally, in the first trimester to confirm the due date, and the second is at 18-22 weeks to confirm normal anatomy and the sex of the baby," explains Mendiola.
The dating scan can include a nuchal translucency (NT) scan, which is part of the combined screening test for Down's syndrome, if you choose to have this screening. The second scan offered during pregnancy usually takes place between 18 and 21 weeks of pregnancy. It's sometimes called the mid-pregnancy scan.
Since an ultrasound creates an image of your baby, it can also reveal the sex of your baby. Most doctors schedule an ultrasound at around 18 to 21 weeks, but the sex may be determined by ultrasound as early as 14 weeks . It's not always 100 percent accurate, though.
Questions you might like to ask a private midwife about the care they will provide during labour and the birth of your baby may include:
- What things can I do to manage my pain at home?
- How do I prepare my home for giving birth?
- How do you monitor me and my baby during labour?
An ultrasound creates pictures of the baby. This test is usually completed around 18–20 weeks of pregnancy. The ultrasound is used to check the size of the baby and looks for birth defects or other problems with the baby.
You might start to feel your baby moving, often called 'quickening', around 18 weeks into your pregnancy. If this is your first pregnancy, it might not happen until about 20 weeks. However, by the second pregnancy, you might notice the tell-tale signs as early as 16 weeks.
A Detailed Anomaly Scan done at 20 weeks can only detect 50% of Down Syndrome cases. First Trimester Screening, using bloods and Nuchal Translucency measurement, done between 10-14 weeks, can detect 94% of cases and Non-invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) from 9 weeks can detect 99% of Down Syndrome cases.
Structural abnormalities that may be identified on the 20-week scan The 20-week scan can detect structural defects including spinal defects, cleft lip/palate, significant clubfeet, body wall abnormalities, major urinary abnormalities, and major heart defects, and a variety of subtle markers that may indicate Down
Miscarriage or health problems at 20 weeksThe overall risk of miscarriage after this time is only about 3%. There's a small chance that the scan might pick up a serious health problem or complication. Some abnormalities won't be seen on a scan at all or can't be seen until later in the pregnancy.
At most clinics, the results will be apparent immediately! The Sonographer will likely be walking you through it as he/she scans and then afterward will show the results to a doctor for review. At ours, the Doctor came in after five minutes to tell us our results.
During the scan, you may be able to spot your baby's beating heart, the curve of the spine, and the face, arms and legs. You may even catch sight of your baby sucking a thumb. Settle in to enjoy the show: The detailed level 2 scan can take 30 to 45 minutes (depending on how cooperative your little one wants to be).
How Can I Prepare for the Scan? There isn't much you have to do to prepare. I was given the advice to drink orange juice or other sugary drinks about 20 minutes before the appointment to get baby moving, but most doctors will tell you to just come as you are.
With that being said, over 99% of ultrasounds performed between weeks 18 and 20 will make the correct determination. 2? It is only when it is performed before week 14 that the rate of accuracy can drop significantly.
"The purpose of the 20- to 22-week ultrasound is to look at all of the fetus's anatomy and to determine if all looks normal. Things that can't be seen in earlier scans, such as spinal cord abnormalities, brain defects, heart defects, and diaphragmatic abnormalities, can usually be seen on these scans."
about 9 to 11 ounces pound
Fetal growth chart
| Gestational Age (weeks) | Estimated Fetal Weight (g) by percentile | |
|---|
| 19 | 214 | 313 |
| 20 | 260 | 380 |
| 21 | 314 | 458 |
| 22 | 375 | 548 |
Please eat and drink normally as a full bladder is not required for your ultrasound scan. However, we request that you do not empty your bladder within 30 minutes of your appointment, unless you are uncomfortable, as some fluid in the bladder improves visualisation.
Babies born after only 20 to 22 weeks are so small and fragile that they usually do not survive. Their lungs, heart and brain are not ready for them to live outside the womb. Some babies born later than 22 weeks also have only a very small chance of surviving.
The chances of an error with ultrasound are up to 5 percent, says Schaffir. An ultrasound can be between 95 to 99 percent accurate in determining sex, depending on when it's done, how skilled the sonographer is and whether baby is in a position that shows the area between their legs. Mistakes can also be made.
Scheduled sometime between 18 and 22 weeks of gestation, the 20-week ultrasound is also often referred to as an anatomy scan. This ultrasound uses high frequency sound waves that generate a moving picture of your internal workings and your baby's changing form.
By the end of the fifth month of pregnancy, your baby is about 10 inches long and weighs from 1/2 to 1 pound.
Development at 20 WeeksThe baby weighs about 10 ounces and is a little more than 6 inches long. Your uterus should be at the level of your belly button. The baby can suck a thumb, yawn, stretch, and make faces. Soon -- if you haven't already -- you'll feel your baby move, which is called "quickening."
Women without prenatal care are seven times more likely give birth to premature babies, and five times more likely to have infants who die. The consequences are not only poor health, but also higher cost passed down to taxpayers.
The simple answer is no. That's right, girl/boy predictions done by expert sonographers are not correct 100% of the time. (Although they are right most of the time!)
- Ask how you're feeling.
- Question you about your baby's movement.
- Do a physical exam.
- Give you a shot of Rh immune globulin, if you need one.
- Test you for group B strep.
- Discuss any other tests or care you may need.
- Provide pregnancy counseling.
- Answer labor and delivery questions.
The morphology scan is a detailed ultrasound scan that looks at your baby's body and observes the position of the placenta, the umbilical cord, the amniotic fluid around your baby, and your uterus and your cervix. It is also known as a 'anomaly scan' or an '18 to 20 week scan'.
