Around 8 weeks of pregnancy, you will be offered an ultrasound to see if your baby’s heart is beating. We will also look at the growth of your child, does this correspond approximately with the date of your last menstruation? We will also check if there are multiples and if the pregnancy is in the right place. We would like to look vaginally because that is the only way to show you something so early in the pregnancy. This way we can also see if there are particulars outside your uterus.

Around 11-12 weeks of pregnancy, you will be asked to have an ultrasound to set the due date. This ultrasound is intended to see how far along you are in your pregnancy at that time and around what date your baby is expected to be born. The baby has now grown enough to be able to measure it reliably, which is why we always use the due date indicated by this ultrasound, even if a different date may have been mentioned in previous ultrasounds.

Although only a few babies are born exactly on the due date (around 5%), it is still important to know the due date as accurately as possible. This is with a view to ‘premature’ birth or ‘overdue’.

It is good to be aware of the fact that abnormalities are sometimes seen on an ultrasound. If you do not want to be informed of any abnormal findings, you must explicitly make this known to your midwife or the sonographer.

At 13 weeks of pregnancy, you will be given the opportunity to have an ultrasound scan. We do not perform this ultrasound scan ourselves in the practice, but it is performed by an ultrasound technician from Diagnostiek voor U. During this ultrasound scan, the size of the baby, the amount of amniotic fluid and the location of the placenta are examined.
Furthermore, the organs of your child are examined to see if they have been formed normally. Sometimes the examination turns out to be unclear or there is a suspicion that an abnormality is present, which later turns out not to be there. This can cause uncertainty and worry.
If there is a suspicion that an abnormality is present, you will be expected back at the Maxima Medisch Centrum Veldhoven or Maastricht UMC within a few days. The best ultrasound equipment is available here and there are specialists who can hopefully provide more clarity.
If you do not want to know whether your child has a congenital abnormality, it is wise not to use this ultrasound scan.

A ‘good’ ultrasound result never guarantees that your child is actually completely healthy. After all, not all abnormalities can be detected properly with an ultrasound scan.

At 19 weeks of pregnancy, you will be given the opportunity to have an ultrasound scan. We do not perform this ultrasound scan ourselves in the practice, but it is performed by an ultrasound technician from Diagnostiek voor U. During this ultrasound scan, the size of the baby, the amount of amniotic fluid and the location of the placenta are examined.
Furthermore, the organs of your child are examined to see if they have been formed normally. Sometimes the examination turns out to be unclear or there is a suspicion that an abnormality is present, which later turns out not to be there. This can cause uncertainty and worry.
If there is a suspicion that an abnormality is present, you will be expected back at the Maxima Medisch Centrum Veldhoven or Maastricht UMC within a few days. The best ultrasound equipment is available here and there are specialists who can hopefully provide more clarity.
If you do not want to know whether your child has a congenital abnormality, it is wise not to use this ultrasound scan.

A ‘good’ ultrasound result never guarantees that your child is actually completely healthy. After all, not all abnormalities can be detected properly with an ultrasound scan.

Growth scans are made on indication.

If during the external examination, or by measuring your abdomen, we think that your child may be lagging behind in growth, we will examine the growth by means of an ultrasound.
Also if you have given birth to a small child after a previous pregnancy, this can be a reason to follow up the growth extra with ultrasound during a new pregnancy.

Furthermore, during the pregnancy, it can be decided to make an extra ultrasound for various other reasons.

Around 34-35 weeks we will check whether your baby is already in the right position for delivery. It is desirable that your baby is lying with its head down at this time. If this is not the case, further options will be discussed with you.
We also always look at the growth of the baby during this ultrasound and try to estimate the birth weight around 40 weeks.

If there are any other special details during the ultrasound, we will discuss this with you, if desired.