Growth, presentation and placental site scans are booked for a number of reasons. Still, predominantly, it is to determine whether your baby is growing as expected, it's position and possibly to check up on your placenta, which might have been reported as low lying at an earlier scan.
Your healthcare professional may have suggested that you attend a pregnancy growth scan due to the size of your bump during an antenatal appointment – this is called measuring your fundal height. Alternatively, you may want a growth scan for general follow-up and reassurance, if you have a high risk of having a smaller baby or should you have a condition such as gestational diabetes, which can result in a larger baby.
Some conditions may also predispose you to have a smaller than expected baby, such as high blood pressure, low or high BMI and a history of loss.
During a pregnancy growth scan, the sonographer will check your baby’s size and estimate foetal weight by measuring:
- Your baby’s head circumference (HC)
- Your baby’s thigh bone (femur) length (FL)
- Your baby’s tummy circumference.
Should your baby’s measurements be within normal limits, it is likely average-sized, and you don’t have cause for concern. However, the sonographer may suggest you return for a second scan in two weeks, as babies tend to grow in spurts. Having additional scans is a safe process for your baby.
During the scan, your sonographer will also check how much amniotic fluid is surrounding your baby, and they may use a Doppler scan to see how well your placenta is working and to hear your baby’s heartbeat.
As well as reassessing the position of the placenta in relation to distance from your cervix, placental blood flow will be checked. This plays an important role in screening for impaired placentation and the associated complications of pre-eclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction and perinatal death. The scan also identifies the position of your baby, which you might be eager to know as you near your due date. It will determine whether your baby is head down, cephalic or bottom/feet first, or breech.
Includes:
- medical report
- 2 printed images
- fetal measurements
- fetal well-being
- liquor assessment
- placental site (+16 weeks)
- presentation (+16 weeks)
- fetal blood flow; umbilical artery & uterine arteries (+24 weeks)
- dating/EDD
- gender information (+16 weeks)
- No 4D option *this can be added for an additional £40
As with all of our scans, we provide a complete medical report detailing all of your scan’s aspects. You can then add this to your obstetric records, and it’s always a good idea to share these results with your midwife or obstetrician for continuity of care.
Along with the medical report, you will be provided with printed images of your baby, which you can take with you.
Should you wish to book your growth scan, please don’t hesitate to contact us via our contact form today.
Growth, Presentation & Placental Site Scan:
- Growth, Presentation & Placental Site Scan: Cost Singleton £150 Multiple £N/A
