Questions to ask at anatomy scan
I have an anatomy scan coming up and am collecting questions for the appointment. Can anyone add to/ edit this list? For those of you who have already had your scan, were you given this information by your doctor/ technician anyway?
1.Size of the head/brain ? is it growing normally?
2.Are there any choroid plexus cysts?
3.State of the spine?
4.Bladder and two kidneys functioning normally?
5.Heart:
a.Do you see four chambers in the baby?s heart?
b.Are there two upper chambers (left and right atria) with valves controlling blood flow into the heart?
c.Are there two lower chambers (left and right ventricles) with valves controlling blood flow out to the body (aortic) and lungs (pulmonary)?
d.Do the two valves and vessels (aorta and pulmonary arteries) exit the heart in a crossing fashion?
e.Are there any large holes between the lower chambers of the heart?
f.Is the baby?s heart normal?
(Source: https://childrenshospitalblog.org/how-fetal-testing-and-childhood-heart-defects/)
g.Any sign of calcification on the heart? (soft marker for Down?s)
h.What is the heartbeat?
6.Positioning of the umbilical cord? Does it have two arteries and a vein?
7.What is the placement of the placenta? (possibility of previa?)
8.Level of amniotic fluid?
9.Is there any indication of a cleft lip/ palate?
10.Gestational age?
11.Sex?
Re: Questions to ask at anatomy scan
The tech really isn't allowed to tell you anything other than gender (and I think heartbeat...mine told me the h/b, too). Your doctor will review the results and talk to you about them at your next appt.
My ob has an online communication system so I knew that night that everything looked great but there were a few shots that the tech wasn't able to get (uncooperative baby!) so she requested a follow-up u/s. So, we haven't covered everything specifically but I know that she doesn't have any concerns at this point.
Your questions are really basic things that your ob will be looking to check. Is there any reason you want to go down that list with him/her? Just curious.
Wow! That's quite a list! The tech can't tell you anything during your exam. She just points things out to you casually, like "here's the heart. here's the head." etc. etc.
Then after she took some photos for about 20 min. She asked me if I wanted to know the sex. That was it.
It all comes out in a report given to your ob/gyn. Then he/she tells you, "Everything came out great!" Or whatever the case may be.
I hate to be a negative nelly, but I can foresee a tech getting a tad annoyed at your list. Hopefully, it won't be a problem for you. ; )
I'm starting to think again that my "tech" may have been a doctor... I'm really not sure (there was a different name on the bottom of the report) but one of the doctors listed had the same first name. Doctors don't normally wear white coats here even in hospitals nor do they expect for people to call them "Dr so and so" either.
She was able to give all this information at the time of scanning, and told us as she did each part of the scan what she was looking for, and what she found, and we were able to see her label each part as she took the stills that we were given a copy of (on a USB stick) and were sent to the doctor. The only thing she didn't mention was cysts, but maybe because there weren't any to see?
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I like your idea of using the list as a back-up during your follow-up exam, but if I were you, I wouldn't bother going through it if the doctor told me that everything looked great. If there are any issues at all with any of those things, your doctor will tell you. If he doesn't bring it up, then there shouldn't be a problem.
I can appreciate the concern about being patronized and having some issues downplayed for the sake of the mother's mentality or whatever .I want to know exactly what's happening and when, how things are, all that stuff and don't want to be treated like I wouldn't know what they were talking about. However, I wouldn't want to patronize the doctor or u/s tech by micromanaging their list of tasks and things to look for during the scan. Not trying to be rude, but if I were a tech or your doctor and got that whole list of questions from you, I would definitely feel a little micromanaged.
If you trust your doctor and techs, then there's no need to go through all that. If you don't trust them, then it's time to find a new doctor.
If the tech isn't looking for these things, they aren't doing their job.
I think any tech would get irritated by a patient coming in with this list, micromanaging their work.
Talk about these questions to your doctor at the review appointment afterwards. If the doctor can't answer them, then ask to go back for another US. But I would definitely advise against bringing this to the US. Wayyyy overboard.
This exactly. The less they say the more normal your baby probably is.