Obstetric Ultrasound Service

We know you are looking forward to seeing your baby.

This is an exciting time to see how your pregnancy is progressing and ultrasound scans are an important tool in evaluating the health of our pregnancy.

What can I expect from the scan?

The ultrasound scan is a diagnostic medical examination of your baby, designed to assess your baby’s health and wellbeing.  While this scan can assess your baby’s development with great detail, it cannot detect all problems or abnormalities.  A mother’s increased Body Mass Index and the baby’s position in the womb can limit the ability to obtain some information.

The routine pregnancy scans performed at 11-14 weeks (first trimester/dating scan) and again at 18-21 weeks (anomaly scan) will carefully look at your baby’s anatomy and development, the position of the placenta, to help plan the birth and to check the level of amniotic fluid around your baby.

In all scans, measurements are taken to assess your baby’s size, growth and position.

How accurate is the scan?

Ultrasound is not perfect.  The ultrasound image may not show everything we need to see.  There are two main reasons for this:

The baby’s position

Each ultrasound required a degree of ‘co-operation’ from your baby.  If your baby is porrly positioned this will greatly affect what the sonographer can and cannot see during the scan.  This is not a problem for your baby and will not cause any harm.  However, if we cannot get the measurements needed, we may need to repeat the scan at a later date.

Maternal habitus/increased BMI

When carrying out an ultrasound scan, a beam of ultrasound passes through the layers of fat and muscle under the skin to reach the baby.  Echoes bounce back off the baby and are picked up to produce the image we see on the screen.  Some types of fat distort the beam like ‘wobbly’ bathroom glass.  Detail is lost and measurements are less accurate.

It does not always depend on your size or body weight.  It just depends on whether you have the type of fat layer that spreads the ultrasound beam.  However, a thicker layer of fat is more likely to do this than a thin layer.

Unfortunately there is little we can do to improve the quality of the images in this situation.  The scan report may then say something like “Poor visualisation due to maternal body habitus” – this will be explained to you by the sonographer.

A repeat scan may be necessary at a later stage (23 weeks) to assess the fetal anatomy and the growth of your baby.

Can I find out the sex of my baby?

Finding out the sex of your baby is not offered as part of the National Screening Programme and is never the priority of the scan.

However, if you want to find out the sex of your baby, it may be possible to do so during the anomaly scan (18-21 weeks of pregnancy).

Tell the sonographer at the start of the scan if you would like to know your baby’s sex and we will check at the end of the scan once the health of your baby has been assessed.  Please be aware though, that the sonographer can never be 100% certain about your baby’s sex, although approximately 90% of the time we are correct.  Sometimes it is not possible to identify the gender; this may be because your baby is lying in an awkward position or because of an increased maternal BMI (see above).  Please note that a follow up scan to check gender will not be arranged.

Preparing for your scan

• If you are between 10-20 weeks pregnant you will have an abdominal (tummy) scan and will need a full bladder to help us see your baby more clearly.
• If you are less than 10 weeks pregnant you will have an internal (transvaginal) scan.  A full bladder is not required for this.

What else do I need to know?

We understand you may want family or friends to share this experience with you.  However, so that we can focus on you and your unborn baby, it is important to have as few distractions as possible.  For these reasons:

• Only one adult may accompany you into the Scan room.  If you have young children, we ask that you make arrangements for them to be looked after during the consultation.  Occasionally we need to discuss a scan result in depth and this can be difficult if children are present.
• All mobile phones should be silenced and put away before the scan starts so as not to distract the sonographer.
• Electronic devices, games and toys must be turned off.
• Photography or filming with a camera or phone is not allowed during your scan (includes Facetime/Skype, etc).
• Photos will be offered after the scan (at a cost of £3 each or £5 for 2).
• Please refrain from eating and drinking in the Scan room.

Location

Saint Mary’s Ultrasound Department, (at the back of the main atrium), Ground Floor, Saint Mary’s Hospital.

Trafford General Hospital,  Radiology Department, (Next to Urgent Care Centre), Moorside Road, Davyhulme.

Possible delays

We apologise in advance for any delays that you may experience whilst waiting for your scan.  This may be because:

In addition to out-patient appointments, the Scan Department also undertakes urgent referrals from within the hospital and this can lead to delays for patients with appointments.

Some patients may receive sensitive and difficult news, and these scan appointments may take longer, which in turn can impact on the appointments that follow.

Please also be aware that whilst it may seem that some patients are being taken for scans out of order, those patients are most likely attending a different clinic, as we often have more than on running at the same time.

How do I access this service?

Referrals for scans are only from midwives or doctors in antenatal clinics or on the hospital wards.

Opening Hours

Saint Mary’s: 8.00 am-5.00 pm, Monday-Friday

Trafford:     7.30 am-5.30 pm, Monday-Thursday and 7.30 am-5.00 pm, Friday

Ultrasound scans at Trafford tend to be booked prior to 1.00 pm to co-ordinate with on-site clinical teams.