There are many questions if you are a mother expecting, and a lot of them are about your ultrasound exams.  We will be looking at some of your questions in this next blog.  First question I would like to address is how an ultasound works.  Ultrasound scans are high frequency sound waves – so high we can’t hear them, then bounce off solid objects and create a picture, visible on a computer screen, of your baby, the placenta, and your organs in the surrounding area.  You may wonder what happens during the scan and what does it feel like?  Although no painful, early scans can cause discomfort since you need a full bladder.  Ultrasound scans can be performed by a doctor, a midwife, or a sonographer.  You will lie on an exam table and need to wear something that makes it easy to expose your belly.  The person doing the scan puts warm gel on the lower part of your belly, which improves contact with the skin, making it easier to view the baby.  You will feel a little pressure as a transducer is pressed against your skin and moved around to look at the baby from different angles and to take measurements.  The image produced by the scan is viewed on a screen similar to a computer monitor.  The person doing the scan may spend some time frist studying the image and taking measurements beofe talking to you about what they can see.  Although this can be unnerving, it does not indicate that anything is wrong.  We will discuss more tomorrow about what can be expected when recieving an ultrasound.

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