ultrasounds?

Question

does anyone know how accurate an ultrasound is?
i thought that the ultrasound was accurate and that the due date that could be off?
am i right? can someone fill me in please

Answer 1

An ultrasound is more accurate in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy (embryo stage). Yes, an ultrasound can be off, because it is a guide to determine the age of the fetus (this is referenced by using +/- when giving an estimated due date). When the ultrasound technician takes measurements he/she will take three measurements and an average of the three measurements are used to determine the age of the fetus.

Ultrasound technicians can tell you what he/she sees during the ultrasound, although the final results are prepared by a radiologist. The radiologist then sends a report to your health care provider with an estimated due date and any other findings.

Answer 2

Your earliest crown rump length is the most accurate for dating your pregnancy. Docs won't change your date from your LMP unless it's more than a week off from your CRL. If you've not had an early ultrasound and you come in at say... 20 weeks and you're more than 10 days off your doc might change your due date then but other than that they stick with it so they can chart your baby's growth.
If your baby is falling behind with growth, there are many factors your doc will consider. Is the baby overall small? Is the belly smaller than all of the other measurements? Is there a placental issue? The list goes on and on and not everyone is the same.
I hope that helps. :)

And because I can't let this go...
Cassandra, first if a "technician" is doing your ultrasound you might want to change facilities because that's the guy who fixes the machine. I wouldn't trust him to do my ultrasound either.
The Sonographer or technologist, however would be perfectly trained on how to "use low power" as you put it.
FYI, you might want to take a close look at that rodent study, it's the laughing stock of the sonography profession. They strapped an ultrasound probe on super low frequency and "high power" for weeks... In the same spot....
Oh, and those of us in the profession don't recommend fetal ultrasound for entertainment purposes because it's non-diagnostic and breeds the thought that fetal ultrasound even in a hospital is just to find out gender.

Answer 3

Depending on what time during pregnancy the ultrasound is *supposed* to be +/- 5-14 days. And they should tell you the +/- when they give you the date.

However, that is based on the ultrasound technician being the most skilled he/she can be, and the most alert, the baby being in the perfect position, etc.

For one thing many ultrasounds are being preformed with OBs who are not very well trained. For another we all have off days.

I would always go by LMP unless there is some doubt as to when it was. However I also would not be induced for being "postdates" and would only consider it if a stress test indicated a problem and I was post-term (43+ weeks). Babies come when they are ready and due dates, no matter how they are calculated are +/- 2 to 3 WEEKs as babies do not all take the same amount of time to get ready.

Answer 4

I had ultrasounds all throught out my pregnancy and my children are fine. They are only as accurate as the person reading them. If you have a large child or a small child, the doctor could think the due date is off. Usually they use other indicators for a due date other than size, such as lung and devlopment of other parts. Usually the Ultrasound isn't that far off. A couple of weeks might seem like a long time, but really it isn't.

Answer 5

They can be pretty accurate. Be sure that a maternal-fetal medicine specialist is reading it. I had to have 4 with my son. The first showed the due, the second for development, the 3rd for size/growth & the 4th to be sure he was ready to be born(had to have c-section because of previous issues with BIG babies) I had 1 ultrasound with my 3 older boys, the due dates were very accurate with each of them. I went into labor on my ultrasound date with my oldest & was 1 day off with my 3rd.

Answer 6

Ultrasound imaging uses high frequency sound waves to provide information about internal organs and soft tissue,such as the heart, liver, gallbladder, spleen, pancreas, kidneys and bladder.

Ultrasound transducer works both ways as a transmitter and a receiver, sending sound waves into the human body and receiving echoes, reflected from the internal organs, that are displayed as a two- or three-dimensional image on a video screen.

Ultrasound data, gathered in real-time and displayed on a computer monitor, allows us to see a moving fetus in utero or the blood flow in the vessels

Answer 7

ultrasounds at the beginning of pregnancy are very acurate for determening a due date- because the babies grow pretty much at the same right up until a certain point. Then they get 'less' acurate the farther along you are- because babies begin to grow at different rates. Due dates can be off and so can their determination of the babies weight. I had an ultrasound done with my first pregnancy at 42 weeks and they swore she was at least 10 lbs (they go by bone measurements etc)- wel because i was 42 weeks and she was over 10lbs they induced me- and 23 hours later I gave birth to a 7lb baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They were waaaay off- but my daughter was really tall- so when they went by her bone measurements- thats how they came up with 10lbs.

Answer 8

Yes, ultrasound is generally considered to be more accurate than date of period at prediciting the baby's due date. But it is still only an estimate, you can't know exactly how old the baby is or when it will be born

Answer 9

Ultrasound transducers working on both ways like a transmitter and receiver and he sending sounds waves to the human body and receiving echoes.Ultrasound transducer reflecting from the internal organs and finaly displaying as two or three dimensional image on a video screen.

Answer 10

Ultrasounds are only as accurate as the skills of the technician and reader. They also hurt the baby - my first ob said don't have them and I never did. now the research is showing it's bad for babies.