Prenatal Diagnosis

Prenatal ultrasound
1. Explanation
Ultrasound examinations are used by doctors in order to get an impression of the progressing development of the unborn child. With the help of this process corporal deformities, state of the organs, amount of amniotic fluid and the growth of the child can be seen. Most misshapen body parts can be recognized by using ultrasound. The process also tells the doctor in which week the pregnancy is or how many fetuses there are. After an ultrasound examination the following information can be given: limb length, diameter of the amniotic fluid sac, diameter of the fetus’ head and stomach. Those numbers are measured in order to estimate whether the child’s development is normal. Ultrasound works with silent sound waves with are reflected by the body tissue. The sound waves are reflected there where the density of the tissue changes, e.g. amniotic fluid, umbilical cord. The ultrasound images are like cross-sections of the body but it’s quite hard at the...