Ultrasound
With an ultrasound scan you can see your baby for the first time. The health insurance reimburses a dating scan and a mid-pregnancy anomaly scan. Other medical scans will be reimbursed if there is an indication/ reason for it, for example if there is uncertainty about the position or growth of the baby. For all these medical scans you visit our ultrasound centre www.echoamsterdam.nl , where you can also go for keepsake scans.
Dating scan
By measuring the crown-rump length at a dating scan the age of the baby can be measured. This measurement is used to calculate your due date (40 weeks). Only 5% of women give birth on their due date; pregnancy normally lasts from 37 to 42 weeks from your first day of your last period until birth.Ultrasound scans are possible from about 7 weeks after the first day of your last period, but because the baby is still very small then, your due date can not yet be estimated. In our ultrasound centre you can always do a keepsake scan (without medical indication). An early scan is no guarantee that your pregnancy will be fine although usually it will be. The dating scan will be between 10 weeks and 4 days and 12 weeks . A miscarriage rarely happens after a scan at 10 to 12 weeks.. The length of your baby from crown to bump is then between 33 and 54 milimeters.
The 20 weeks scan
The 20-weeks scan or mid-pregnancy anomaly scan. Nowadays, this scan is often performed when you are about 19 rather than 20 weeks pregnant, as was the case some years ago. During this scan the baby is observed in detail to see whether the head and brain look normal, the palate is intact, the heart is well formed, whether there are two arms and two legs, etcetera. It is a medical scan which is reimbursed by the health insurance. If you do not like to know whether you will have a boy or a girl, the sonographer will look at the sex but will not point it out to you. Unless you are very well trained in looking at ultrasound scans it is not easy to see this yourself.
Other medical ultrasound scans
If there is any doubt about the growth or position of your baby, this can be a reason to do an extra scan. We will send a referral letter to the ultrasound centre so that you can make an appointment for this. If you like, we can plan the scan for you but we do not know your diary so it may be easier to make an appointment yourself. These medical scans are reimbursed by the basic health insurance.
Keepsake scans
Scans that are not made for medical reasons are called ‘keepsake scans’. For example, you can have a scan around 14 weeks to know the sex of your baby earlier. If you are around 28 weeks pregnant you can see many things on a scan and the baby is not yet too big to take nice pictures. Beware: sometimes things are seen on a keepsake scan that are a bit outside the normal parameters. In those cases there will be further investigations.
A keepsake scan is not always only fun but can raise anxiety as well. These scans are not reimbursed by the health insurance but are at your own expense.
Our practice is connected to Echo Amsterdam
