Prenatal and Fetal Ultrasounds

900 Words2 Pages

Before the mid-1950’s, a pregnant woman would go through some major problems with her body and baby. There is no way of looking at the insides of our bodies and judging what is happening exactly. A woman would not know she is pregnant until she was showing and her menstruation was delayed. Therefore, that meant the due date of the baby was unknown. Furthermore, a woman would not know the baby’s health, including the amount of amniotic fluid surrounding the baby. Woman all over the globe faced problems with pregnancy, until the Ultrasound was introduced. Ultrasound is an imaging technique that use high-frequency sound waves, inaudible to the human ear, to produce somewhat precise images of the insides of the abdomen. A device called the transducer is used to transmit the sound waves through the abdomen. Specifically Prenatal and Fetal ultrasounds, which view the inside of a pregnant woman’s abdomen and the fetus. Prenatal and Fetal ultrasound images can determine and evaluate the development of the baby; including its health, age, weight, and the gender and if any abnormalities exist. It is also a chance to study your baby’s profile months before the baby is delivered. Furthermore, it determines the location of the placenta, the amount of amniotic fluid around the baby and the position of the baby.

There are two main procedures in which take place during the Ultrasound examination: Transvaginal ultrasound and Transabdominal ultrasound. The Transvaginal ultrasound is when a wand-like transducer is put into the woman’s vagina to transmit the sound waves and produce the image. Transabdominal on the other hand, is when a flat-surfaced transducer is moved over the woman’s abdomen. Each procedure is used at different stages of the ...

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... 2013. .
"The Risks, Benefits and Future of Ultrasound." Ultrasound Technician Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. .
Staff, Mayo Clinic. "Definition." Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 06 Oct. 2012. Web. 07 Dec. 2013. .
"Ultrasonography." Expert Consult. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2013. .
"What You Need to Know About the Prenatal Ultrasound." WebMD. WebMD, 04 Apr. 0000. Web. 07 Dec. 2013. .

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