Is a 12-week ultrasound really necessary?

The article is professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor I Nguyen Thi Mai - Radiologist - Department of Diagnostic Imaging - Vinmec Phu Quoc International General Hospital.

When it comes to the 10th - 12th week of pregnancy, the baby in the womb is only 3 - 5cm in size, weighing just over 10g, but the fetus has made great progress.
Specifically, the most important organs such as the head, kidneys, heart, liver... have formed. Your baby's spine is also clear and the spinal canals are starting to stretch from the spinal cord.
12th week of pregnancy is also the period when the fetus begins to form the first reflexes such as kicking, swallowing, grasping and letting go of the hand... These reflexes can be observed through ultrasound . The baby's intestines have developed, the baby's kidneys have begun to carry out the task of excreting urine into the bladder.
Besides, neurons are growing exponentially, synapses are forming strong. The baby's face at 12 weeks of pregnancy is also gradually clearer, the eyes are starting to get closer together instead of being far apart.

Fetal ultrasound is a fairly simple imaging technique that helps mothers see images of the baby while the baby is still in the womb, through which to monitor the development of the fetus, detect the abnormal signs early to have the most optimal treatment directions.

When the pregnancy is 12 weeks old, the doctor will conduct transabdominal ultrasound, when the pregnant woman's bladder is in a state of fullness, helping to push and lift the uterus higher than the pelvis, making it easier to Review the recorded images of the fetus.
In addition to the abdominal ultrasound, the doctor may order a transvaginal ultrasound of the fetus. This is also an option for clearer image results. The average pregnancy ultrasound takes about 30 minutes.

12 weeks pregnant ultrasound helps to evaluate as one of the important milestones in fetal development, as 12 weeks pregnant ultrasound images provide some accurate information about:
3.1. Nuchal translucency at 12 weeks gestation is the "golden time" to measure the translucency of the nape of the neck. Nuchal translucency measurement technique is performed to investigate the abnormalities of chromosomes, thereby reflecting the risk of serious congenital diseases such as Down syndrome, congenital heart defects. , diaphragmatic hernia...
If the ultrasound results have a nuchal translucency of more than 3mm, this reflects a high probability of having one of the above diseases with a rate of up to 80%. At this time, the pregnant woman will be examined with other tests to give accurate results.
3.2. Determining gestational age and predicting due date 12 weeks pregnant ultrasound helps determine the age of the fetus by measuring the size of the baby. At 12 weeks gestation, the accuracy of gestational age is quite high, usually there is no error or the difference is not too large, only a few days.

3.3. Other indicators of the fetus 12 weeks pregnant ultrasound in addition to giving quite accurate results on nuchal translucency, the due date also provides accurate parameters about the baby's size index. At 12 weeks, the fetus will be about 3-5cm long, weigh about 10g, heart rate about 120-160 times/minute, place where the placenta attaches (front or back).
From the 12-week pregnancy ultrasound results, it will promptly detect abnormal signs such as low-lying placenta, anencephaly, amputation, intra/ectopic pregnancy, single pregnancy or twins/multiple pregnancy, complications in the uterus, fallopian tubes and pelvis...
As can be seen, 12 weeks pregnant ultrasound is an important first step in the development of the fetus. A number of dangerous malformations can be detected from the time of 12 weeks gestation, thereby providing appropriate solutions and interventions for each malformation (if any) in the fetus.

Fetal ultrasound is very important, but not all pregnant women have many consecutive ultrasound times during pregnancy. However, pregnant women need to know some important milestones in pregnancy that need to be monitored and checked by ultrasound. Doctors often recommend that pregnant women go for 4D ultrasound at 3 important times:
12-14 weeks of pregnancy: this is the time to measure nuchal translucency and detect with / without the risk of Down syndrome. 22nd week of pregnancy: this is the ideal time to check the fetal morphology, at this time the baby has developed to a certain extent, all internal structures can be observed through ultrasound. , thereby detecting abnormalities and providing timely intervention methods. 32nd week of pregnancy: at this time, pregnant women need to have a pregnancy ultrasound to assess the overall health of the fetus, prepare everything before giving birth.

About 1 hour before the pregnancy ultrasound, the doctor will ask the pregnant woman to drink 2-3 glasses of water, and at the same time to hold urine if needed. This is explained by the desire to stretch the pregnant woman's bladder, making it easier for the ultrasound to take place, and the resulting images will have better quality.
From the 12th week of pregnancy onwards, mothers need to urinate all the time before the ultrasound scan, except for some cases where it is necessary to observe the cervix, ask the pregnant woman to hold her urine, but this note is advised by the doctor. Perform detailed ultrasound guidance for the auxiliary basin in advance.
12 weeks pregnant ultrasound is really necessary, at this week pregnant women not only can evaluate fetal indicators like before, but this is also a golden period to detect many fetal malformations... Therefore, in order for mothers and babies to be healthy, parents need to pay attention to:
Understand early signs of pregnancy, pregnancy poisoning, bleeding during pregnancy. Timely, correct and sufficient first prenatal check-up, avoiding too early/too late. Fetal malformation screening at 12 weeks detects dangerous fetal malformations that can be intervened early. Differentiate between normal vaginal bleeding and pathological vaginal bleeding for timely intervention to maintain pregnancy. Screening for thyroid disease in the first 3 months of pregnancy avoids dangerous risks before and during delivery. Vinmec currently has many maternity packages (12-27-36 weeks), in which the 12-week maternity package helps monitor the health of mother and baby right from the beginning of pregnancy, early detection and timely intervention of health issues. In addition to the usual services, the maternity monitoring program from 12 weeks has special services that other maternity packages do not have such as: Double Test or Triple Test to screen for fetal malformations; Quantitative angiogenesis factor test for preeclampsia; thyroid screening test; Rubella test; Testing for parasites transmitted from mother to child seriously affects the baby's brain and physical development after birth.
For more information about the 12-week maternity package and registration, you can contact the clinics and hospitals of Vinmec health system nationwide.