Next to delivery, ultrasound scans are one of the most anticipated milestones of a pregnancy. For many, seeing that black-and-white blob is the moment their impending parenthood starts to feel real. But how many ultrasounds will you get over the next nine months" And is there such a thing as too many"
Ultrasound technicians create an image of your baby by pointing sound waves at soft tissues in your body using a handheld probe that is either inserted into your vagina or a transducer that is rubbed over your belly. The waves that bounce back are translated into a picture by the imaging technology. Midwives and doctors use those images to monitor things like how the baby is growing or to look at the health of the uterus, says Jasmin Tecson, a registered midwife who has been practising for almost 13 years with Sages-Femmes Rouge Valley Midwives in Scarborough, Ont. While there are no official recommendations for how many ultrasounds should be performed in a pregnancy, the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) regularly reviews the research and issues guidelines for care providers, says OB/GYN Howard Berger, head of maternal fetal medicine and obstetric ultrasound at St. Michael?s Hospital in Toronto. When you?re newly pregnant, you?ll typically be offered an initial dating ultrasound between eight and 13 weeks. It?s used to confirm your pregnancy, establish a due date and eliminate surprises when it comes to how many babies are growing in there...