Why do they do multiple ultrasounds on some women and only one on others?

Question

My sister-in-law is 12 weeks pregnant and has yet to see the baby, but she did finally get to hear the heartbeat last week. My cousin, however, had her first ultrasound at 6 weeks and is having another at the end of the 8th week. They found out she's having twins. My cousin had a miscarriage in February and my sister-in-law has never been pregnant. Is this why? What ultrasounds are normal? I'm just curious for when I have a baby.

Answer 1

i say depends on the insurance... i am 26yrs old, first baby, and not considered high risk but i have had one a month until 7 1/2 months then biweekly then towards the end weekly... where as my sister's first baby was a miscarriage and with her second her insurance only allowed 2 ultrasounds... and she was more high risk then me!

Answer 2

It depends on the doctor and the risk factors.

If it is twins or the mother had a miscarriage before or if the pregnancy is high risk the mother will have many ultrasounds.

I only had 2 ultrasounds in my first pregnancy and i am only 15 weeks pregnant with the second and already had 3 ultrasounds.

Answer 3

The only necessary ultrasound is the anatomy scan, which is done around 20 weeks. So many women will only ever get one ultrasound throughout their entire pregnancy.  

A lot of doctors will do a dating scan to determine a due date and check for viability of the pregnancy. Many doctors have the ultrasound equipment in their office and therefore do a quick scan at every appointment. It varies from doctor to doctor. There is no need to worry though, so long as she gets her anatomy scan around 20 weeks.  

Answer 4

I guess it depends on ur d.r. he's the one who usually gives the order for an ultrasound i remember on my 1st pregnancy i never had a US until 20 weeks which i didnt get to cuz i had a miscarriage at 19 weeks and now that im PG again i've already had one at 9 weeks to make sure everything's ok.

Answer 5

It Varies. It depend if you have a normal pregnancy or a high risk pregnancy. It also depends on what type of insurance coverage you have.

Answer 6

A lot of it just depends on the doctor. Some doctors like to check on the baby via sonogram at least once a trimester; other doctors believe the fewer sonograms the better. Another reason a person might get more sonograms than another is risk involved with the person. If a lady is over 30 sometimes she is considered higher risk than a 24 year old.Also, if there is a history of pregnancy problems more sonograms will probably be done.  

Answer 7

It usually depends on the doctor, the insurance coverage, or the woman's situation.

For me, I've had 7 so far with #8 next Thursday.  The reason for mine is that I'm very high risk due to fibroid tumors, surgical history and a miscarriage in February.  My doctor is very cautious.

Answer 8

It depends on the office protocol for your particular OB, your insurance, and your medical history.  In my case, I have had early ones because of my history of miscarriages, but under most circumstances, they wait until later in the pregnancy to do them.  That may be the reason they are performing earlier scans on your cousin.

Many insurance plans will only cover the cost of one scan, unless there are medical reasons for having additional ones.

Answer 9

It depends on the pregnancy and the doctor.  They probably did your cousin's because she had a miscarriage and is carrying twins.  That makes things more complicated.  Good luck.

Answer 10

I think they do more ultrasounds on high risk pregnancies rather than a normal pregnancy. My doctor does 3 ultrasounds and one 4D ultrasound for all her patients. I had a high risk pregnancy and had an ultrasound done every 2 weeks.

Answer 11

I think a lot depends on how much of a risk your pregnancy holds. I had my first ultrasound at 8 weeks only because I had some spotting and they wanted to check and make sure all was OK. I had another at 13 weeks for my sequential screening but that is an elected test to have. All they do is look at the baby to measure the fluid at the back of the neck and do two sets of blood tests, it's very non-invasive. If you choose, for some reason, not to have the sequential screening done and you do not have a mid-high risk pregnancy then it's quite possible that you will not have an ultrasound until 18-21 weeks when you can find out the s*x if you like. Don't fret! She can always ask her doctor why she hasn't had one yet.  

Answer 12

every pregnancy is different but your cousin is considered to be high risk so they probably are doing her ultrasounds more frequently to make sure everything is ok

Answer 13

IT all depends on the history of the pregnant woman. Those that are pregnant for the first time won't have as many sonograms unless there is suspected problems and those that have been pregnant before and had some complications or the doctors suspect there may be complications will get more ultrasounds to keep an eye on there pregnancy and the health of there babies.  

Answer 14

First. . . your cousin is higher risk pregnancy. With it being twins, she will probably have ultrasounds at every appointment because it is the only sure way of finding 2 heartbeats.

I have 9 month old twins and I literally had ultrasounds every couple of weeks and then I had like 5 of the 4D ultrasound during the last 10 weeks.

Best of luck to them both!  

Answer 15

I am sure when she has more weeks in they will schedule one for her. SHe is only 12 weeks, they typically will give her another one around 20 weeks or so.

Answer 16

If the doctors feel you are high risk they will do ultrasounds more frequent than if your not high risk.  Maybe because yoru cousin had a miscarriage puts her in the high risk catagory.  

Also, every doctor is different.. my friend is due in October and I'm due in March and her doctor gave her her first ultrasound at 6 weeks or so and I just got my first one at 12 weeks, so that can also be it.

Answer 17

I think it all depends on the doctor my friend and I go to the same doctor and your very first appt you come in they gave us one to confirm the pregnancy mine was at 9 weeks my friends was at 6 weeks from there they scheduled us one between 18-20 weeks.

Now with my son my doctor had me have one at 10 weeks,19 weeks and 38 weeks.

I was measuring small so I had to go for the one at 10

the 20 week or so ultrasound is the routine ultrasound most pregnant women get at that week or around it.

At times they will do a later ultrasound to see how big the baby is with some concerns of the baby being to small,big,breech ect..

I think it all depends on the OB AND pregnancy.

Answer 18

Sometimes they find abnormalities in the ultrasound.

Or if it's twins, they give you a few more ultrasounds then usual.

Or if your high Risk ( previous Miscarriage, or many other reasons )

I have had 5 Ultrasounds and im 33 weeks, I have another in 2 weeks.

My baby girl has some problems with her kidneys, and they NEED to keep an eye on it and make sure the left one does not get to big and rupture.

Answer 19

probably because she is having twins.  They might have seen something at 6 weeks that made them want to check at 8 again.  Or it could be because of the miscarriage.  They generally only do one around 20 weeks and don't do one again unless something makes the doctor concerned about something.   Also, hearing the heartbeat is not the same as an ultrasound.  Early on they use a doppler machine which is not the same as an ultrasound.  

Answer 20

It mostly depends on the doctor, and on any particular complications.

A woman having a normal pregnancy without complications needs NO ultrasounds at all, though most docs will do one or two because women expect them.  

If there are complications or concerns (bleeding, uncertainty about dates, fundal size that doesn't match dates, suspicious results from AFP,  history of miscarriage) doctors would do further scans, as required.  

And yes, some docs do ultrasounds at every visit, or nearly so -- though there is no medical justification, and it may have harmful  effects on the baby.

Answer 21

it really depends on your pregnancy and your doctor , if you have a high risk pregnancy then your likely to get more than 1 ultra sound ,

i had only one at 5 months and just had another one done at 36 weeks  because i asked for it, but some can have them every week because they are high risk ...

good luck  

Answer 22

It does vary, here is my story, I have a two year old and a one year old with Justin (2) I had two ultra sounds done. The first was routine to check the size and due date (by the baby's age/size). when the triple screen results came back it showed that I had like a 0.0001 chances of the baby having down syndrome so I had to have a high risk u/s done to see if he had down syndrome. then with Jacob (1) I had three done: the routine  first then the high risk ( yes the triple screen came back again 0.0001 chance) then in the last few months I was measuring like 4 weeks early, you measure one cm for every week. so my Dr wanted to make sure we had the dates right which we did  I just grew fast  

Answer 23

It all depends on your doctor. If the first ultrasound shows the baby growing at a good rate some don't need to see another. When there is multiple births they always have more ultrasounds for the safety of the baby.

Answer 24

they have given me 4 extra ultra sounds bc my baby was always on the big side.