Sonograms during Pregnancy
A pregnant woman can expect to endure lots of poking and prodding along with many other tests during the time she is expecting. One of these tests is simple and painful and can provide much information to the obstetrics team monitoring your pregnancy.
A sonogram or an ultrasound is a common device that is used when a woman becomes pregnant. A sonogram can tell a lot about what is happening in your womb and the progress of the baby. Many times problems can be pin-pointed before they become more serious, or allow the medical team and the parents to anticipate birth defects or abnormalities.
What is a Sonogram?
A sonogram creates a picture when it bounces sound waves off your body’s interior or specific organs. The person performing the sonogram uses a transducer or wand to glide over your belly as the sound waves bounce off the baby inside you and feeds the data to a computer.
Having a sonogram is a completely safe procedure for pregnant women to undergo. It uses sound waves to discover information instead of a traditional x-ray which uses radiation to see inside of you. The sonogram offers a more detailed picture than an x-ray and is the preferred method to monitor your pregnancy.
What Information does a Sonogram Give?
Having frequent sonograms during pregnancy is a precautionary technique to keep an eye on your baby’s progress. It measures the size of the baby as well as vital organs to ensure that all is developing properly. It many instances, especially as the pregnancy progresses, the medical team is able to discern if your baby is a boy or a girl. For those first time mothers whose babies are overly large, having a sonogram can permit the doctor to make other arrangements for delivery other than vaginal for the safety of the mother. A sonogram also lets the parents and the medical team know if a mother is carrying multiples.
Filed under: Pregnancy Tests & Symptoms
