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SEE WITH SOUND
Invest in your unborn baby’s health and future by having at least two crucial ultrasound examinations at the right time – this sound advice from our medical expert may help save your baby’s life.
THE images taken by new four-dimensional ultrasound technology of a baby in his mother’s womb are unbelievably realistic.
You can clearly see the baby’s facial features as he sticks his tiny finger in his mouth, yawns, turns and kicks – as if it’s a video.
But these are much more than pretty pictures. They can reveal fetal abnormalities in time and perhaps help save your baby’s life. Any visible abnormalities – such as Down’s syndrome, an open spine (as with spina bifida) or defects in the tiny heart valves – can be detected. It’s almost as if you’re seeing the baby from inside the womb.
And even where 4-D equipment isn’t available two-dimensional ultrasound examinations can be invaluable in pinpointing health problems as long as they are performed by an expert, top local fetal specialist Dr Linnie Muller says.
The new 4-D ultrasound lets you see clearly and in detail – you can even watch your unborn baby dance
Muller describes three important facts
about birth defects and ultrasounds every
pregnant woman should know:
- By far the most birth abnormalities – more than 90 per cent – occur in pregnancies where
both parents are completely healthy and normal and neither has a family history of any
such defects.
- A pregnant woman’s lifestyle habits – such as alcohol or drug abuse – can cause
abnormalities in her unborn baby and even threaten the baby’s life.
- The better trained the specialists who carry out the ultrasound the better the chances
they’ll spot an abnormality in an unborn baby. Not all general practitioners, obstetricians
or radiologists are able to pick up all abnormalities with an ultrasound machine.
The table below shows what a huge difference thorough training can make to finding abnormalities in an unborn baby. It's a comparison between the success statistics of all doctors (including South Africans) who adhere to the standards of the Fetal Medicine Foundation (FMT) in London and those who don't. It shows why patients benefit when the standard fo training is higher.
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Ultrasound
examination of a pregnant woman where the unborn baby is studied
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Percentage of
unborn babies with defects found during routine check-ups
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Percentage of
unborn babies with defects found by fetal specialists with FMF
accreditation
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The nuchal fold scan at 13 weeks to identify Down's
syndrome
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50% of all
cases with Down's syndrome
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85-90% of
fetuses with Down's syndrome. Some fetal specialists will also examine
the nose bone and heart valves of the fetus.
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The examination at 22 weeks to find heart and other
defects
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50% or
less of heart defects
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75% of
heart defects
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The nexamination at 22 weeks to find defects of the
spinal cord
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30-80%
provided the necessary blood test is also done
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98% of
spina bifida cases and other defects
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Costs of
ultrasound examinations
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A quick monthly pregnancy scan to see if the baby's
heart is still beating costs R175-R200.
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The scans by a fetal specialist at 13 and 22 weeks
cost about R800 and R1 000 respectively. It can save your baby's life if
a heart surgeon is standing by to operate immediately after birth.
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These two ultrasound
examinations
could be of immense
help to pregnant
women:
- The nuchal fold scan at 13 WEEKS
The thickness of a baby’s nuchal fold
(the neck fold at the back of his head)
is measured and the mom has blood
tests done. In this way a fetal specialist
can identify 85-90 per cent of fetuses
with Down’s syndrome early in the
pregnancy.
- The ultrasound examination at 22 WEEKS
This scan measures the fetus, checks the
placenta and how much amniotic fluid
surrounds the baby, and meticulously
examines the heart, brain, kidneys and
other organs. Heart defects are the most
common birth abnormalities – almost one
in 100 babies is born with a heart defect.
How doctors test your unborn baby for Down syndrome
YOU Pulse Summer 2007/8
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