Gestational Diabetes: Are You at Risk?

Like other types of diabetes, gestational diabetes affects how well your body uses sugar (glucose) - your cell's main source of fuel. Gestational diabetes causes high blood sugar levels that can affect your health and that of your growing baby. But healthy habits that include eating right, exercising and maintaining a healthy weight go a long way toward preventing gestational diabetes and treating it if you develop it.
Learn more about the causes and complications of gestational diabetes, plus steps you can take to prevent it.

Scans at different intervals of pregnancy

Fetal Gender (20+ weeks)

Fetal gender scan is a pregnancy scans made for 20 weeks and above to determine the gender of the fetus. This is meticulously performed ultrasound scan examining each system to identify any problems present. The examination includes brain, spine, face, chest including heart and lungs, the liver, stomach and bowel, kidneys and limbs. (source: pregnancy-and-baby-ultrasoundscan.co.uk)

Nuchal Scan (11-13 weeks)

The nuchal test is a Baby Ultrasound scan focusing on the thickness of skin at the back of the baby's neck. Thickened skin is commonly associated with Downs syndrome and other chromosome abnormalities. (source: pregnancy-and-baby-ultrasoundscan.co.uk)

3D&4D Ultrasound

3-D ultrasound can furnish us with a 3 dimensional image of what we are scanning. The transducer takes a series of images, thin slices, of the subject, and the computer processes these images and presents them as a 3 dimensional image. Using computer controls, the operator can obtain views that might not be available using ordinary 2-D ultrasound scan. The scans requires special probes and software to accumulate and render the images, and the rendering time has been reduced from minutes to fractions of a seconds.
A good 3-D image is often very impressive to the parents and there is the possibility of increasing psychological bonding between the parents and the baby.
Present evidence has already suggested that smaller defects such as spina bifida, cleft lips/palate, and polydactyl may be more lucidly demonstrated. Other more subtle features such as low-set ears, facial dysmorphia or clubbing of feet can be better assessed, leading to more effective diagnosis of chromosomal abnormalities. The study of fetal cardiac malformations is also receiving attention. The ability to obtain a good 3-D picture is nevertheless still very much dependent on operator skill, the amount of amniotic fluid around the fetus, its position and the degree of maternal obesity, so that a good image is not always readily obtainable.

Ultrasound for Pregnancy Diagnosis

Having a baby is an extremely exciting period of life, and many expectant parents just can’t wait to take a sneaky peak and see what their unborn child will look like. 2D ultrasound scans have been used for many years and in many countries as a routine method of monitoring pregnancies, and are invaluable for medical practitioners to ensure that the unborn child is developing properly without any complications. Though these photographs have always been extremely popular, they don’t really give you much idea of what your baby will actually look like.