Pregnancy scans : 20-24th week

During pregnancy, most often pregnancy scans is being offered  to expectant moms during their mid-trimester or during the 20-24th week of pregnancy in most medical establishments in UK like hospitals and clinics, even in the developing countries. This is commonly called as "detailed anatomy scan" as the main goal of the examination is to check for probable fetal abnormalities or developmental problems.

Concerns about the Mid-Trimester Scans at 20 to 24th week of Pregnancy

There are concerns however to pregnant women if this ultrasound scan benefits the patient and if pregnant women really want to have the ultrasound. Although these questions may be difficult to answer, studies imply that majority of expectant mothers would want it and even expected undergoing this examination during pregnancy as part of the routine examination to ensure fetal well-being.

The major point of distress is on the term used "anatomy scan". This means that the examination will filter results that would determine if the baby will come out physically healthy. Otherwise, if it turns out that there is a problem, it can cause serious anxiety and sorrow to the mother. In some instances, couples may even turn against their doctors with the thought that their physicians withheld this crucial information from them.

It is necessary then that before performing pregnancy scans ultrasound, the expectant mom is informed with all the details that are necessary to further understand ultrasound scans during the counseling session. Expectations should be cleared and questions about the examination should be answered. By doing this, the outlook will be more realistic.


Advantages of the Detailed Fetal Anatomy Scanning

During the counseling session, both the advantages and limitations of the detailed anatomy scanning should be fully discussed with the mother. This is to clear out expectations and misunderstanding regarding the said examination. Counseling session should be done by highly qualified medical authorities so as to ensure that the questions of couple are satisfactorily addressed prior to pregnancy scans.

Here are some of the advantages of the having pregnancy ultrasound

• The pregnancy scanning will allow the medical practitioner to find how many fetuses are in the womb.  With the help of ultrasound scan, a number of multiple pregnancies have been discovered.
•  When the accurate age of gestation is determined, it could mean the life or death of a premature baby.
• This pregnancy ultrasound will also verify if the pregnancy is high-risk or not. With the help of this procedure, it will identify possible medical problems and will allow the doctor and the mother to do intervention to resolve the health issues.
• The pregnancy scanning can also show any malformities in the development of the baby that could pose risk to life. by knowing this earlier, actions can be taken and if the abnormality is treatable, this will help prepare the parents- to-be in advance.
• The examination can determine the structure and the location of the placenta. In instances where the location can pose a danger to the mother such as bleeding during pregnancy, or showing that it is abnormally low. The latter condition is called placenta praevia and by knowing it earlier, prompt actions can be taken.
• Strengthen bonding with 4d baby scans. Also, pregnancy scans at the mid-trimester in 3d scan or 4d baby scans mode can show the mother how the baby inside the womb looks like. It is during this stage where the body parts have been formed and the fetus will probably become very active. This experience can strengthen the bond between the mother and the baby.

If the expectant mother does not wish to know the baby's gender during pregnancy ultrasound, she should inform the medical practitioner beforehand. Although pregnancy scans in the mid-trimester is being done routinely, it is still optional.