Your Ultrasound Appointment

Getting your first ultrasound can be one of the most exciting moments during your pregnancy, and the experience undoubtedly marks a major milestone in the process of slowly getting to know your baby before he or she is born. From laying eyes on those first precious images, to finding out whether the decorations are going to be blue or pink, having your ultrasound test performed by the best health care professionals can help reassure you that your growing baby is healthy and safe.

An ultrasound is a procedure that allows you to see images of your baby during your pregnancy, with the sonogram being the name of the actual picture taken of your baby during the ultrasound. Health Care For Women's 4D ULTRASOUNDS take 3D ULTRASOUND images and then adds an elapsed time element to the process, which in turn allows you the unique experience of viewing live-action images of your baby that are of a quality that you most likely never thought possible.

As one of the most useful and reliable diagnostic tests for proper prenatal care, the performance of an ultrasound test is one of the key components in evaluating and protecting the health of an unborn baby.

A prenatal ultrasound test utilizes high-frequency sound waves that are transmitted through the woman's abdomen via a transducer so that the doctor can look inside the abdomen. The echoes are recorded and transformed into photographic or video images of the baby. The ultrasound can be used during pregnancy to show images of the baby, placenta, ovaries, and amniotic sac, and the ultrasound test can also detect major birth defects or abnormalities. Ultrasounds do not use any radiation and are safe during all stages of pregnancy.

Most patients will get one or two ultrasounds during their pregnancy, depending on when they start prenatal care. Additional ultrasounds might be indicated to perform special kinds of tests or to more closely monitor high-risk pregnancies. So what can an ultrasound do?

An ultrasound performed early in your pregnancy can determine

• Your expected due date
• The gestational age (the age of the fetus)
• The presence of more than one fetus
• Measurement of the Nuchal Translucency to help detect chromosomal abnormalities
  

An ultrasound performed later in your pregnancy can determine

• The general health of the baby and detect many types of birth defects
  
• The amount of amniotic fluid around the baby
• Location of the placenta
• The expected weight of the baby
• The position of the baby
• The baby's gender
  

With the state-of-the-art 4-D ultrasound, Health Care For Women will allow you the amazing opportunity to see pictures and video of your baby before he or she is born, and the stunning image quality provided by this high-tech equipment is detailed beyond anything that has been available up until now.