What are the details to look out for while having the anatomy ultrasound at the 20th week of pregnancy?

Question

What are the details to look out for while having the anatomy ultrasound at the 20th week of pregnancy?

Answer 1

Are you asking what the sonographer documents during a second trimester ultrasound?  Or what you should notice?  You, as the patient, should just lay back and enjoy the show.

For a 20 week anatomy scan, where I work, we document these things:

**cervical length, placenta, ammonic fluid levels

**measurements: 2 of the baby's head and 1 each of the abdomen and femur to get an estimated fetal age and weight

**fetal organ survey - urinary bladder, 2 kidneys, stomach bubble, fetal cord insertion, 4 chambered heart, outflow tracts of the heart, diaphragm, aorta and aortic arch, nasal bone, both eye lenses, structures of the brain (posterior fossa, ventricle), the entire fetal spine in two different views or planes, entire lower and upper extremities on both arms/legs

***we document the fetal heart rate

***we document that you have a 3 vessel umbilical cord and do doppler wavelengths on the cord

***maternal gallbladder, as pregnant women have a higher rate of gallstones

***of course, if the mother wishes, we try to determine the fetal s*x

The full scan will take between 40-50 minutes....that is a lot of stuff to image and document! Best wishes....