1st Trimester

Is it normal my dr won't give me an ultrasound until 20 weeks?

My dr told me that there really isn't anything to see until 20 weeks. I don't really feel comfortable going 1/2 way through my pregnancy before getting my first ultrasound. Thoughts?

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Re: Is it normal my dr won't give me an ultrasound until 20 weeks?

  • America. I'm in Indiana.
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  • kynbar5kynbar5 member
    edited August 2015
    This is normal. Every ob office is different. If it's not a high risk pregnancy and your insurance doesn't cover extra then this is pretty normal for a lot of women.
    Eta- there are places that you can get them done but you pay out of pocket.
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  • What constitutes a high risk pregnancy? This is my first pregnancy so I'm new to all this. Is it just my overall health they go by?
  • Each doctor varies on what they do. Some will do an ultrasound very early and some only do the minimum throughout the pregnancy. If this is your first pregnancy and you have no family history or risk factors they may not see a necessity to do more than the minimum. Some doctors even believe there may be some risks in doing more ultrasounds and therefore won't do them unless medically necessary. I would discuss it with your doctor and find out why he/she chose to wait.
  • Thank you. I've mentioned it to the nurse over the phone and she said she would talk to the dr. I'll ask again when I go back again on the 10th. I appreciate your inputs :)
  • I have had one both pregnancies at 6 weeks
  • Very normal. With my first 3 pregnancies my first ultrasound was my anatomy scan. With my fourth pregnancy I only had an ultrasound at 11weeks due to heavy bleeding. This was to check on a hemorrhage and health of the baby. My next ultrasound will be at 19weeks which will be my anatomy scan.
  • **LURKING FROM TTGP**

    I had a dating u/s at 8 weeks (and 6 weeks because we weren't sure based on irregular periods), 12 weeks for testing, 20 weeks, and a million other weeks for potential high risk. Have they not even dated your pregnancy?


  • Deeny14 said:

    **LURKING FROM TTGP**

    I had a dating u/s at 8 weeks (and 6 weeks because we weren't sure based on irregular periods), 12 weeks for testing, 20 weeks, and a million other weeks for potential high risk. Have they not even dated your pregnancy?
    IME many OBs do not do dating u/s unless the MTB has irregular cycles.

    To answer OP, it depends on the doctor. With my first pregnancy I only had 1 u/s at 20 weeks. I have a different OB now and hwill generally only does 2 u/s, one at 20w and another at 32w. I did have ano early u/s but that is because of a history of m/c and the fact that I only had 3 cycles between pregnancies so we needed to confirm my DD.
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  • Yep . If you have no problems and know your lmp then usually between 18-20 weeks will be the first one
  • It's normal. But I personally would switch doctors so I could get a first tri u/s. But I've had a missed miscarriage. So maybe I'm biased.
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  • It's normal. But I personally would switch doctors so I could get a first tri u/s. But I've had a missed miscarriage. So maybe I'm biased.

    I haven't experienced mc but I would also want to switch doctors to find one who would would do an ultrasound during my first tri just for peace of mind and to properly date the pregnancy. But if you're ok with how things are then that is perfectly ok too!
  • I'm not 100% positive yet, but based on my provider's website, they only do one u/s for a low-risk pregnancy, and it's at 20 weeks. They can still test heart rate, etc. with other tools.
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  • cg0112358 said:
    **LURKING FROM TTGP**

    I had a dating u/s at 8 weeks (and 6 weeks because we weren't sure based on irregular periods), 12 weeks for testing, 20 weeks, and a million other weeks for potential high risk. Have they not even dated your pregnancy?
    IME many OBs do not do dating u/s unless the MTB has irregular cycles. To answer OP, it depends on the doctor. With my first pregnancy I only had 1 u/s at 20 weeks. I have a different OB now and hwill generally only does 2 u/s, one at 20w and another at 32w. I did have ano early u/s but that is because of a history of m/c and the fact that I only had 3 cycles between pregnancies so we needed to confirm my DD.
    I received one at 6 weeks based on LMP, not because of my irregular periods. I went back at 8 weeks because of irregular periods. 8 weeks is the general practice at my OB and then 12 week genetic screening (which I believe had a small co-pay). I had *several* more because of placenta/large baby issues, so I know the other weeks weren't the norm beyond 20 weeks. However, learning from this discussion that I should be much happier with my insurance/healthcare provider for all the u/s!


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