Early Pregnancy or Viability Scan
This is an ultrasound examination that may be carried out transabdominally (through the abdomen) or transvaginally (through the vagina). A full bladder is required initially to enable a transabdominal scan to be performed first. If this scan does not provide the information required the bladder is then emptied and a transvaginal scan performed. The scan aims to determine the number of fetuses present and whether the pregnancy is progressing normally inside the uterus/womb.
This scan is useful for women who are:
- experiencing pain or bleeding in the pregnancy
- have had previous miscarriages
- have had a previous ectopic pregnancies
- unsure of the date of the last menstrual period
The early pregnancy scan is available up to 14 weeks of pregnancy. We do not perform a viability scan after 18 weeks of pregnancy as your midwife should be able to hear the baby’s heartbeat with the Doppler machine.
If we cannot see a heartbeat on the scan due to the pregnancy being too early then we can repeat the scan free of charge at a pre-determined time interval, when we would confidently expect to see the heart beating.
Links
Early Pregnancy Problems - information.