A pregnancy ultrasound is needed more than just confirming your pregnancy. It is required to shed lights on a lot of other vital information on your pregnancy so that your doctor can ensure that both you and baby are well.
It tells you how far into the pregnancy you are, how many babies you're carrying, and most importantly, where is your pregnancy located.
An ultrasound scan is used at around 5 to 6 weeks of gestation. If used any earlier, you'll see less. Your doctor is hoping to see a normal gestational sac where your baby will grow. If he can't see it, something is not quite right. Usually, he'll see it and as the weeks progress, you will eventually be able to see your foetus moving in the sac and hear its heart beat.
The whole ultrasound process is done abdominally. The health professional will use a transducer (which is an electrical device that converts one form of energy into another) that is coated in a special gel to run it gently over your abdomen.
In an early pregnancy ultrasound scan, an additional intravaginal probe will be done to let the doctor see what's inside your womb in greater detail. During this procedure, the special probe will be covered in a condom, inserted into your vagina and placed right next to your cervix, showing up the best view of the contents in your womb.
With the aid of the ultrasound scan, your doctor can now monitor the growth of your baby precisely and detect abnormalities, if any, in his heart, kidneys, back and other organs.
As a baby's gender can be identified at about 20 weeks of gestation, most parents could also use the scan to find out whether they're having a boy or a girl.
Further resources on home pregnancy tests:
Using pregnancy test kits correctly
False negatives and false positives
Pregnancy blood test
Return from Pregnancy Ultrasound to Home Pregnancy Test
Return to Getting Pregnant Tips
