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Prenatal care
- Prenatal care is the care you get while you’re pregnant.
- Regular prenatal care helps keep you and baby healthy.
- A doctor, midwife or other health provider gives this care.
Ultrasound
Who: Most pregnant women.
Why: To check the age of the baby, identify a multiple pregnancy (twins or more), check the baby's growth and size, and look for major birth defects. Also used to help diagnose certain pregnancy complications.
When: Women may have an ultrasound during the first trimester to confirm and date the pregnancy. Many women have an ultrasound at 18-20 weeks. The procedure may also be done at other times, as needed.
How: Ultrasound uses sound waves to show a picture of the baby on a screen. The health care provider rubs a handheld device, called a transducer, across the woman’s belly or inserts a probe into her vagina. The woman feels pressure as the provider moves the transducer, but usually no pain.
Risks: Safe for the mother and baby when properly used by medical professionals.
Non-medical use of ultrasound during pregnancy should be avoided. Commercial sites, often unsupervised by physicians, offer "keepsake" fetal images to parents. The persons performing these ultrasounds may not have adequate training and may give a woman inaccurate or even harmful information.
Ultrasound images
The March of Dimes has partnered with the American Institute of Ultrasound Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, and Parents.com to create a unique peak into Baby's development inside the womb. These images reveal the details of a baby's growth: from a collection of cells to a full-term newborn.
Why: To check the age of the baby, identify a multiple pregnancy (twins or more), check the baby's growth and size, and look for major birth defects. Also used to help diagnose certain pregnancy complications.
When: Women may have an ultrasound during the first trimester to confirm and date the pregnancy. Many women have an ultrasound at 18-20 weeks. The procedure may also be done at other times, as needed.
How: Ultrasound uses sound waves to show a picture of the baby on a screen. The health care provider rubs a handheld device, called a transducer, across the woman’s belly or inserts a probe into her vagina. The woman feels pressure as the provider moves the transducer, but usually no pain.
Risks: Safe for the mother and baby when properly used by medical professionals.
Non-medical use of ultrasound during pregnancy should be avoided. Commercial sites, often unsupervised by physicians, offer "keepsake" fetal images to parents. The persons performing these ultrasounds may not have adequate training and may give a woman inaccurate or even harmful information.
Ultrasound images
The March of Dimes has partnered with the American Institute of Ultrasound Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, and Parents.com to create a unique peak into Baby's development inside the womb. These images reveal the details of a baby's growth: from a collection of cells to a full-term newborn.
April 2010
© 2011 March of Dimes Foundation. The March of Dimes is a non-profit
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501(c)(3).