Ultrasound scan

Most scans are carried out by specially trained staff called sonographers. So that the sonographer to get good images of your baby, the scan is carried out in a dimly lit room.

You will need to attend with a full bladder for your Dating scan but not for your 20-week scan.

• You will be asked to lie on a couch.
• You will be asked to raise your top to your chest and lower your skirt or trousers to your hips.
• Tissue paper will be tucked around your clothing to protect it from the ultrasound gel, which will then be put on your abdomen.
• The sonographer passes a hand-held probe over your skin to examine the baby’s body. The gel ensures there is good contact between the probe and your skin.

The scan does not hurt but the sonographer may need to apply slight pressure to get the best views of your baby. This might be uncomfortable. A black and white picture of your baby will then be seen on the ultrasound screen.

During the examination sonographers need to keep the screen in a position that gives them a good view of your baby. You may have a monitor to look at or be shown the images at the end of the scan.

The scan is a medical examination. We will ensure you understand what is going to happen. You will be asked to give your permission for it to be carried out. Feel free to ask any questions.

The person scanning you may need to concentrate quietly at certain points during the scan but will answer your questions before or after.

Sometimes it is difficult to get good views of a baby. This does not mean there is anything to worry about.

Very occasionally the scan cannot be completed; this may be because a baby is lying in an awkward position, or you are above average weight - which can increase transmission depth.

Should it be clinically necessary, you will be offered an additional scan to get better images; however, should a scan be unsuccessful, please be assured your baby will be offered an all-over physical examination after birth

General mobile phone usage is not permitted in the scanning room.

If there are medical concerns with your pregnancy you may be offered a viability scan which will check to see the growth, health and wellbeing of your early pregnancy. These are emergency scans which will be as long as is deemed necessary for the medical professionals to assess your pregnancy. They usually last less than 20 minutes.

These are offered to you, after 21 weeks, if you are identified as being on a higher risk pathway. They are primarily to check baby’s growth and wellbeing and are used alongside other tests to make clinical decisions about the best way to manage your pregnancy. A growth scan usually takes around 20 minutes. For more information, please read the Growth Scan Pages.

You may like someone to come with you to the scan appointment. Children are not routinely permitted to attend scan appointments as they can often be distracting to the sonographer whilst they are carrying out important clinical checks and also to parents whilst they are absorbing essential information.

A screening environment is not appropriate for children as it can be distressing for them to witness their parents upset if anomalies or pathology relating to your baby are found. If there are exceptional circumstances and you cannot arrange childcare, please contact your scan department to discuss this with them as we do understand that in exceptional circumstances this may be difficult to organise.

We ask that photographs or videos are not taken during the scan using mobile phones or other recording equipment. This is for the following reasons:

• •Unexpected findings relating to the baby or woman may be revealed during the scan- which can be very distressing. It is not appropriate to record or photograph such events.
• •Sonographers require high levels of concentration during obstetric ultrasound examinations. Video recording and additional lighting from phones can be distracting and distort a Sonographer’s vision.
• •Privacy of staff should be respected, and they should be able to fulfil their job without being recorded.

Parents are given the opportunity to buy an ultrasound image. It costs £5 for one image or £10 for three images. This charge is to cover the cost of the thermal paper used. Images may be requested at any scan but the length of the scan must not be extended in order to obtain a ‘good’ picture. Please note that thermal images should not be subjected to heat (e.g. laminating) and the long-term stability of thermal images is not known.

If requested by the woman, sonographers are able to provide an opinion on the sex of the baby at the anomaly scan. This will depend on the position of the baby and other factors, so cannot always be seen.

It is not a requirement of the NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme, so no additional time is provided to look for the sex of the baby. It is important that sonographers spend as much time as they need to check the structures of the baby and perform the diagnostic scan without delays to scan lists. They are unable to spend longer looking for the sex of the baby or to book another scan if they cannot offer an opinion at the time of the scan.

If the sonographer can see, they will tell you their opinion on sex at the time of the scan. This opinion is not 100% accurate. As this is an NHS funded scan for clinical reasons sonographers will not provide an opinion on fetal sex to any other persons not in attendance nor in an envelope for ‘gender reveal’ purposes.

Alternative providers outside the NHS may be able to offer this service- please ensure that they employ qualified sonographers.