Specialist Women’s Imaging Centre provide the most comprehensive advanced obstetric ultrasound service on the Sunshine Coast, performed by our highly qualified sonographers.
Specialist Women’s Imaging Centre provide Obstetric scans for each stage throughout the pregnancy, from Dating scan, Nuchal Translucency, Morphology, Growth and Wellbeing scans, Tertiary scans and Foetal Echocardiography.
Why should I have an Obstetric Ultrasound?
We all hope our pregnancy will be normal and result in a healthy happy baby, unfortunately this is not always the case and a small percentage of problems can occur. On average 2% of babies are born with some sort of abnormality. Many of these are minor and should not affect normal growth and development, but some will be more serious. In these cases, early detection can help your doctor determine a proper course of action to correct or properly monitor the issue.
What is an Obstetric Ultrasound?
An Obstetric Ultrasound is a non-invasive, painless medical imaging examination to produce pictures of a baby within a pregnant woman, as well as the mother’s uterus and ovaries.
Specialist Women’s Imaging Centre has the only Women’s Imaging specialist, Dr Sean O’Connor is a highly dedicated clinician with over 18 years’ experience. His passion is for the health and wellbeing of the women of the Sunshine Coast.
Dating scan (6-10 weeks)
A dating scan can be used to confirm your due date, if you are unsure of your last menstrual period or you date of conception. The scan is usually done during the first 6-10 weeks of pregnancy, 6 weeks is generally the earliest that the developing embryo can be detected. The reason for requesting a scan at this time are firstly to confirm your dates, to check for multiple pregnancy or if you are experiencing bleeding or pain.
Nuchal Translucency (11-13 weeks)
The main purpose of a Nuchal Translucency scan is to access the risk of chromosomal abnormalities. We do this by measuring the nuchal translucency thickness. Nuchal Translucency thickness is the amount of fluid behind the neck of the foetus. This scan must be done between 11 weeks and 3 days – 13 weeks and 6 days. Specialist Women’s Imaging Centre provide the most comprehensive Nuchal Translucency scan on the Sunshine Coast.
Morphology Scan (17-22 weeks)
The Morphology scan is done around 20 weeks, this scan is for the assessment of the major organ systems including the heart and spine. At this stage we are able to see the individual structures including limbs, hands and feet. The sex of the baby can usually be determined fairly accurately at this stage, though there are no guarantees.
Growth Scan (from 22 weeks)
Your Doctor will sometimes request a scan later in the pregnancy to check on the foetal growth and the placenta or umbilical cord blood flow. If there are concerns or you are having twins/triplets, these scans may be requested every few weeks to show the growth rate.