Antenatal Ultrasound Clinic
Antenatal Ultrasound Clinic is the definitive website to find a private antenatal clinic in the United Kingdom that meets your needs and delivers on your expectations. Having the opportunity to go private is a great experience and seeing your baby for the first time can be a very emotional time. Our goal is to deliver you the best clinics and we hope you find exactly what you need.
These are our featured private antenatal clinics.
Private Pregnancy Scans
Consultant Specialist in Fetal Medicine
Mr David Gerard Penman TD MRCOG
presents his compliments and wishes to inform you that he is available for private consultation at
Spire Alexandra Hospital and the Kings Hill Medical Centre.
01634 662863
Advertise Your Clinic Here
Company Name Here
Telephone Number Here
Website Address Here
Email Address Here
Advertise Your Clinic Here
Company Name Here
Telephone Number Here
Website Address Here
Email Address Here
General Information: Baby Gender Scan and Antenatal Ultrasounds
Why is ultrasound used in pregnancy?
Ultrasound scan is considered to be safe, non-invasive accurate and cost-effective investigation in the foetus. It has become an essential obstetric tool and plays an important role in the care of pregnant women.
The following areas are the main use of ultrasonography:
1. Diagnosis and confirmation of early pregnancy.
The gestational sac can be seen as early as four weeks of gestation and the yolk sac at about five weeks. The embryo can be seen and measured by approximately five and half weeks. Ultrasound in early pregnancy is very important so it can confirm the site of the pregnancy is within the cavity of the uterus and therefore promoting the detection of ectopic pregnancies.
2. Vaginal Bleeding in early pregnancy.
The viability of a foetus can be documented in the presence of vaginal bleeding in early pregnancy. A visible heartbeat can be seen and detected by pulsed Doppler ultrasound by about six weeks and clearly made out by seven weeks. If a heartbeat is still observed despite the presence of vaginal bleeding in early pregnancy, the likelihood of a continued pregnancy is better than 95%. Missed abortions and blighted ovum will normally give pictures of a deformed gestational sac and absence of foetal poles or heartbeat.
The foetal heart rate tends to vary with gestational age in the very early parts of pregnancy. The normal heart rate of a foetus at six weeks is around 90-110 heart beats pre minutes (bpm) and at 9 weeks is 140-170 bpm. A 5-8 weeks a bradycardia (which is a heart rate of less than 90bpm) is associated with a high risk of miscarriage.
Most women do not regularly ovulate at around day 14 of their menstrual cycle, so findings after a single scan should always be interpreted with caution. The diagnosis of a missed abortion is usually made by a series of ultrasound scans demonstrating a lack of gestational development. If an ultrasound scan demonstrates a 7mm embryo but cannot demonstrate a clear cut heartbeat, a missed abortion may be diagnosed. In these cases it is usual to repeat the ultrasound in 7-10 days to avoid any error.
The timing of a positive pregnancy test may also be helpful in this regard to assess the possible dates of conception. For example, a positive pregnancy test 3 weeks previously would indicate a gestational age of at least seven weeks. Information like this would be useful against the interpretation of scans.
In the presence of first trimester bleeding, ultrasound scans are invaluable in the early diagnosis of ectopic pregnancies and molar pregnancies.
