How important is anomaly scan during – pregnancy?
Anomaly Scan which is done between 18 – 21 week of your pregnancy which is half way through your pregnancy and by now, your baby is almost 10 inches and starts absorbing nutrients.
This is the right time to examine all the parts of your baby and their movements from head to toe.
From assessing the amniotic fluid, with focus on brain, heart, kidney and all other body parts and their details, the scan provides you with specifics non any possible abnormalities that can be looked at further.
This helps you in understanding your child’s function better.
It is possible for a baby’s organs to be underdeveloped in certain circumstances. There may be specific anomalies in some cases that cannot be addressed once the kid is born.
Some may even lead to the fetus death during the latter stages of pregnancy or right after delivery. All of this has to be found, looked over, and researched.
Also, don’t you want to look at those tiny little hands and legs?
Can anomaly scan detect twins?
If you have this inner feeling that you are carrying a twin or your healthcare professional doubts a twin pregnancy for you, you have to wait for your mid pregnancy anomaly scan for the confirmation.
Anomaly scans are generally considered a detailed scan and there is a super high possibility of detecting twins.
- The possibility of twin detection before is comparatively very low since the nearest before ultrasound is during the 6th – 7th week and by then the babies are very teensy.
- Also, your baby can be hiding behind their sibling making them more invisible in the scan.
- There can even be a possibility of your twins sharing the same amniotic sac which makes them almost invisible during their early scan.
So, wait for the 20th week as you can rely on an anomaly scan for your twins.
What happens at Anomaly scan for twins?
If you are speculating twins, then you may be prescribed more ultrasounds than during normal pregnancy. These extra scans are for the assurance of twin pregnancy and also to monitor the babies health and growth rate.
A twin Anomaly Scan can be more demanding than a single baby scanning since there is a huge possibility of one baby being missed out and the scan also takes more time to be completed even twice as long to clearly assess both the babies.
This means changing position several times to capture both the babies at the best. This will also mean constant effort by both the doctor and the mother to keep the baby active and make them co-operative for the task.
Be it identical or non-identical, the measurement of the babies may vary and it is completely normal for one baby to be bigger than their sibling.
With advancement in the healthcare profession we day by day see improvement in the healthcare services and especially with gynaecology. Nonetheless, there are extra concerns to be aware of when you’re pregnant with twins.
Anomaly scan for twins helps in identifying and taking charge of complications like twin-to-twin-transfusion syndrome, selective fetal growth restriction, twin reversed arterial perfusion sequence, conjoined twinning etc.
Can twins be missed at 20 week scan?
I would not say no. At times, in very rare cases, twins can be missed in anomaly scan. However, there is almost 100 percent possibility for anomaly scan to detect twins.
As discussed, there are several practical reasons to miss another child staying in the uterus in your early pregnancy scan.
Most of that is ruled out during the mid pregnancy scan and the main reason for the high probability rate is because the foetus is half developed, comparatively active and big enough to hide from the scan.
So, relax and believe your doctor if they say only one baby detected during the 20 week scan, you may have to believe it.
However, If you are still not sure, and want 200 percent sure then your healthcare provider would put you for another ultrasound soon after your 21st week. This can also happen in pregnancies that are suspected to have two or more babies.
This post first appeared on Cost Effective Scan Center In Chennai | CWC, please read the originial post: here
