Considering not having an ultrasound this time...

[Hawkeyewife]

I am pregnant with number four (16 weeks now) and thinking about whether we really need an ultrasound. I had two with my forst two and one with my last one. I am low risk and have been very lucky so far...

Anyway, I am considering not having an u/s done due to the fact that I keep hearing of friends/family be alerted to problems during pregnancy and then having healthy babies (or in my SILs case, the docs thought her baby was hydrocephalic, she had probably a dozen ultrasounds and was scared to death but baby was all right except for the fact that even though they had so many scans they never found that the baby had 12 fingers and 12 toes!)... I would, of course get one if there were a medical reason. I'd rather be rationally ignorant of something than be worried for no reason since it seems like almost everything that can be diagnosed in utero cannot be treated until after birth.

Last but not least, I have read some studies that suggest a correlation of autism with increased use of u/s, though I am not completely convinced of that.

Is anybody else considering not having an ultrasound?

[SnuggleBuggles]

The 20w u/s was the only prenatal test I chose to have. I admit, it was mostly because I wanted to see the little one! I did want to check on a few things that would be obvious from the u/s. The possibility of a false alarm and scare from the u/s always seemed so much lower to me than something like the quad screen or those other tests.

Beth

[boltfam]

I'd say it's up to you. If your dr. doesn't think it's necessary and you don't really want one, then you're probably okay. My doc doesn't require them and he said he doesn't do them unless he feels it's necessary or the patient asks for one.

I did have an u/s b/c I wanted to, and then I had one later b/c my dr. was concerned that DS wasn't measuring big enough. He was fine, but it made me feel better. That was my first pregnancy, though, and I was a little paranoid.

OTH, a girl from church did not have an ultrasound and her baby ended up having a severe disability. In that case, I would want to know...

I probably didn't help you decide anything, but those are my thoughts.