Disclaimer
The information on this website is included in good faith, but its accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed. The content of this website has been compiled with the greatest care, but experience shows that it can occur that information is out of date or contains inaccuracies. Therefore, no rights can be derived from the information on the site. Ultrasound Centre SAM& does not accept any liability for any damage that is the direct or indirect consequence of, or is related to, the use of the information made available on this website. The Court of the Hague reserves the right to make changes and corrections to this website without prior notice.
Please read this information completely before having an ultrasound.
You can go to our centre for diagnostic ultrasounds and screening ultrasounds.
Diagnostic ultrasounds
Your midwife/doctor will determine which diagnostic ultrasounds are necessary during pregnancy. The health care insurer only reimburses those ultrasounds for which there is a medical indication.
Indications are:
* term determination to determine how far along the pregnancy has progressed. The progress of the pregnancy can be reliably determined from 8 weeks and 5 days. We cannot determine a pregnancy duration for a shorter pregnancy. An ultrasound before 8 weeks and 5 days is therefore not reimbursed by the health insurer. The progress of the pregnancy can most reliably be determined from 10 weeks.
* diagnosis ultrasound to see why you are experiencing blood loss
* diagnosis ultrasound to check the growth of the baby
* diagnosis ultrasound to see where the placenta is located
* diagnosis ultrasound after 35 weeks to determine the position of the baby
For the above mentioned ultrasounds the following applies:
These ultrasounds do not look for any abnormalities in the child. If no details are seen during this examination, this is not a guarantee for a healthy child. If, in the above indications, the ultrasound technicians notice any details or abnormalities in your child, placenta and/or uterus, these will always be reported to you and your midwife or doctor. In addition to the ultrasounds that the midwife requests, you can choose whether you want to have a combination test performed early in the pregnancy and the structural anomaly ultrasound examination between 18 and 22 weeks. The combination test and the structural anomaly ultrasound examination are screening ultrasounds. You will receive detailed information from your referrer about both examinations.
Combination test
The result of the combination test gives a reliable estimate of the chance that your child will have Down's syndrome (trisomy 21), or Edwards syndrome (trisomy 18) or Patau syndrome (trisomy 13). The result of the combination test is a probability calculation and not a diagnosis and therefore does not provide any certainty. With an increased chance (1 in 200 or higher) you can, after consulting with your referrer, opt for even more specific screening (NIPT) or a diagnostic test that determines with certainty whether your child has been affected. It is possible that we cannot immediately inform you of the result of the test, because there is no blood test result yet or because the test has to be reviewed by the laboratory. You will then receive the result a few days later. We have an internal control system for all combination tests. It occasionally happens that
this check shows that your results must be adjusted. You will then receive a call from one of our ultrasound technicians. The results of the screening and follow-up examinations can lead to difficult choices, you can get help with that.
The Structural Anomaly Ultrasound Examination (SEO) or 20 week ultrasound
The SEO will look for evidence of structural abnormalities in your child. Not all deviations are discovered with an SEO. It is true for all ultrasounds that not all abnormalities are always visible. In addition, not all birth defects are already present during pregnancy. If no details are found, this is not a guarantee for a healthy child. If any abnormality is discovered during an SEO, the consequences for the child are not always clear. You will be referred to a specialized gynaecologist. He or she can confirm the deviation. However, this follow-up examination can also show that there is nothing wrong with your child, or that it is still unclear what exactly is going on and what the impact is. The SEO ultrasound is reimbursed by the health care insurance company.
Quality of the images
The quality of the images can be influenced by, among other things, the position of the child in the abdomen, the position of the placenta and the amount of amniotic fluid surrounding the child. Another factor is the thickness of the abdominal wall. For women with a higher BMI (Body Mass Index) we have the experience that the images can often be better looking and easier to assess if they are made a little later in pregnancy.
Early ultrasound
Early in pregnancy (for 10 weeks) the uterus is still small and is completely hidden behind the pubic bone, therefore a narrow ultrasound probe is inserted vaginally for a medical ultrasound to make the ultrasound. This is usually not experienced as painful. The imaging is considerably better than with an ultrasound via the abdominal wall. You can see the heart beating with an ultrasound from 6 weeks. The foetus cannot be recognized as a child very early in pregnancy.
Ultrasounds on request (fun ultrasounds)
You can have fun ultrasounds performed by us. These ultrasounds are not reimbursed by the health care insurer. The purpose of this on-demand ultrasound is in no way medical-diagnostic. There is therefore no search for abnormalities in the mother or child. Therefore, Ultrasound Centre SAM& or the individual ultrasound technicians cannot be approached in any way whatsoever about abnormalities that were found afterwards.
If the ultrasound technician accidentally sees or suspects an abnormality, he/she will inform you and your midwife or doctor about this. If you are aware of the existence of (suspected) abnormalities, we kindly request you to report this to the ultrasound technician before the start of the ultrasound. We would like to point out that this ultrasound does not involve any medical treatment, nor any medical advice or assessment.
The full medical responsibility for your pregnancy therefore remains with the attending midwife and/or doctor. This means that there is in no way any question of a medical treatment agreement, as referred to in Article 7:446 of the Dutch Civil Code. No statement made during or after the ultrasound consultation may be interpreted as a medical assessment. No guarantee is given on gender determinations. No rights can be derived from the assessment issued; therefore no liability is accepted in this regard. The image quality is determined by a number of factors that we cannot influence. (see also the chapter “quality of images”. We therefore give no guarantee on the image quality
Imagery
If you receive photos, you will also find other privacy-sensitive data on it alongside the images from the ultrasound. You are responsible for protecting this data against unauthorized access by third parties.
