Must-Have Checklist @20-week Anatomy Scan!

The time has come and I am halfway through my pregnancy! 20-week anatomy scan ultrasound is a key milestone for any mama-to-be. This can be an amazing and exciting, yet nerve-racking experience depending on your pregnancy condition. Since I was diagnosed with complete placenta previa, my OB has ordered an additional scan to have a deeper look at the location of my placenta. On top of that, they also conducted an extra scan to look through baby’s heart due to the IVF procedure.

Here is a complete list of helpful questions to ask the sonographer during your 20-week anatomy ultrasound. Bear in mind, sonographers are not liable to answer all your questions (I was lucky mine was quite informative), be sure to speak with your doctor about them:

Questions to ask about mama:

• How is my cervix measuring? How long my cervix currently is?
• How is the amniotic fluid level?
• Does the baby have enough room in the uterine?
• Is my uterus growing in good size?
• How is the size of the cervix?
• Will you be conducting 3D scan?
• What is the gender of the baby?
  • Be sure to tell them in advance if you DO NOT want to find out the gender.

Questions to ask about the baby:

• Are all of my baby’s internal organs present & forming properly? Brain, heart, stomach, lungs, kidneys, all vital organs
• Are all of the limbs present & forming properly?
• How is the heart?
  • Does it have four chambers?
  • Risk of CHD (congenital heart disease)?
  • Is the heart in the correct position?
    • It should be on left side of the fetus.
  • Is the heart rate within the normal range?
    • Normal range for fetus is 120-180 beats per minutes.
  • Does the heart function appear correct for the gestational age?
    • This may be hard to confirm with a regular ultrasound. A fetal echo may be required if there are any concerns.
• Does the spine appear to be forming properly?
• Is the spine in alignment and covered by skin?
• Reproductive parts are formed properly?
• Does the umbilical cord have three vessels?
• What are my baby’s measurements & are they at the correct gestational stage?
  • Don’t get too worried about the percentile, a millimeter can boost you up or down dramatically.
• Is the size of the brain and fluid-filled areas within normal ranges?
• Does the face have a cleft lip?

Questions about placenta previa condition:

• How does the size and placement of the placenta look?
• How much of the placenta is covering the cervix?
• What’s the distance between placenta and cervix?
• What are the chances it will move up and grow out of it?
• Do I have to take out the baby at 36 weeks even no bleeding occurs through pregnancy?
• Do I have placenta accreta? Placenta attached too deep to the uterine wall.

I hope this is helpful to all of you. Feel free to use this straight up for your anatomy scan. It was the first time for me seeing a 3D scan of my baby and I was in awe of that cute little face with all sorts of lovely movement baby made…gonna be an active one 😎