In the second trimester of pregnancy, between the 18th and 22nd week, a routine ultrasound called 20 week ultrasound or "the echo of 20" (in waiting rooms and cafeterias), although its most accurate name would be to call it 20 week morphological ultrasound, since it carries out a detailed examination of all the morphology of the baby and can diagnose anomalies in its development.
How is it done?
Is a normal ultrasound, very similar to that of the first trimester, which is performed on the woman's abdomen, while lying. It is not necessary to perform it on an empty stomach, nor should it be drunk beforehand, as pelvic ultrasounds require. Its duration ranges between 10 and 30 minutes.
Do you have any danger?
It is a simple, harmless and painless technique. It does not imply radiation or exposure, so It is a safe practice for both pregnant and baby.
What is it for?
As we have said before, this ultrasound will analyze the morphology of the baby, its environment (placenta and amniotic fluid), the heart and other internal organs as well as the movements of the baby. All this to verify that it is developing within the normal parameters.
By having a greater development, possible fetal malformations can be identified, both serious and mild, which, however, can be the signal of something more serious.
It is estimated that 88.3 percent can be detected in the case of major malformations of the nervous system, 84 percent for the renal, and 38 percent for those related to the heart and large blood vessels of the circulatory system .
For example, the probability of detecting a spina bifida in this test is 88% and that of a hydrocephalus 98%.
In case of detecting any anomaly should be studied and assessed by proposing, if necessary, the conducting more detailed studies.
It is also the time when we can know the sex of the baby, if you leave us, of course.
To finish, and according to my personal experience, this "echo" is very long, because there are many parameters, measures, etc. that the gynecologist will need to take, remember that depending on the position of the fetus, the amount of amniotic fluid, the morphology and the "mastery" with the ultrasound, the test can last about half an hour (although in our case it never reached that much).
All this makes almost certainly, your gynecologist or the person who is currently performing the test, is much quieter than normal and does not pay much attention, especially if it is not already too talkative. This does not necessarily indicate that you have found something wrong.have patience and wait to finish so I can tell you in detail and more relaxed how the test went (we with the first had to bite our tongue to not get stuck to questions).
