What is the purpose of the dating scan?

An ultrasound scan that helps the NHS confirm how many weeks pregnant you are, checks how your baby is developing - and gives you an amazing black and white photo to take home Your week ultrasound scan is the 1st of the 2 routine pregnancy scans you're offered on the NHS. It's officially known as the 'dating scan' because it's used to pinpoint your baby's due date.

It's also a bit of a moment. That's because it's likely to be the 1st time you 'see' your baby whee! So in love, it's unreal! They will also check that anatomically everything is where should be.

Then you get your amazing pictures and you can tell the world! Dating scans are offered at some point between 8 and 14 weeks, with most of them happening between 11 and 14 weeks.

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If you've had fertility treatment, have a history of miscarriages or are in pain or bleeding during the first weeks of pregnancy, you may be offered an early scan before this routine dating scan. But, assuming your pregnancy is healthy, you'll still have the dating scan at round about the week mark.


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The scan is done externally by rolling a device over your tummy unless your womb is very deep in your pelvis or you're very overweight, when it may be thought better to offer you a trans-vaginal scan instead. You'll be asked to arrive with a full bladder.

week pregnancy dating scan: what will it tell me? | MadeForMums

The scan itself will take about 15 to 30 minutes but you may need to hang about for a while in the waiting room beforehand — which can be tricky when you've just drunk all that water! But don't be tempted to skip the water drinking for that reason. It's best to wear trousers or a skirt and a top, rather than a dress, as once you're in the dimly lit room, you'll be asked to lie on your back on a couch and adjust your clothes to expose your bump. Information for the Public. Early dating scans Source: All women will be offered a dating scan , and an 20 week fetal anomaly ultrasound scan , in line with NICE and UK Ultrasound scans in pregnancy - NHS Source: Find out about ultrasound baby scans, including the dating scan and anomaly scan, to check for abnormalities in the baby during pregnancy.

The management of babies born extremely preterm at less than 26 weeks of gestation: British Association of Perinatal Medicine. This guidance relating to the management of the birth of extremely preterm babies at less than 26 weeks of gestation is aimed at both parents and healthcare professionals.

What will happen at the scan?

We always recommend mums get a definitive dating scan closer to 12 weeks as this will be much more accurate. Just half a millimetre at such an early stage can change your date by a week. Your week scan will be far more accurate. The sonographer then said that I was only about 4. Then at the week scan I got an EDD of 15 march, so that early scan was completely out.

MY 12 WEEK SCAN EXPERIENCE

Well, you'd think so, wouldn't you. At around 12 weeks you can get more accurate measurements. By talking to the health care professionals you should get a clearer picture as to what is happening. Thanks so much for your post — we always welcome feedback, positive or negative, as we always aim to make our articles as accurate and as helpful as possible.

12 week pregnancy dating scan: here's what to expect

We spent a lot of time talking to sonographers before writing this article, so we're surprised that you think what they're saying is not in line with what you have studied. We'd be really keen to know more about your studies — and what you have learned. You're right that we did include 'anecdotal stories' in our article. We used them to illustrate the key points we were making in the articles but the quotes we used were all centred on the real experiences of pregnant women posting in our forum.

We are confident that we are not using these quotes to 'misinform women', as the key points in our article were all sourced from expert monographers. It's interesting that you say that ultrasounds between 8 and 10 weeks are the most accurate. In the UK, most pregnant women don't have an ultrasound until they are at least 12 weeks pregnant.

Perhaps you are based in the US, or another country, where ultrasound practice is a bit different? We use cookies to improve your experience of our website.