First dating scan

Early Pregnancy Scans: What Can You Expect?

At 6 weeks gestation your baby is about the size of a pea with lots of changes and growth happening, and by 7 weeks, baby is about the size of a blueberry. At 6 weeks gestation your pregnancy test will be positive. A transvaginal ultrasound examination may show a tiny sac in the lining of the womb about 6mm in size. Within the sac is a yolk sac and a tiny fetal pole which is the developing baby. There is some variation, but on average the length of the embryo is about 5mm. Electrical activity may be faintly identified by sensitive ultrasound machines, but this future heart tissue becomes more obvious with advancing gestation. Around the gestation sac is a thick white band of tissue which is called the chorion.

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Back to Your pregnancy care. If you're pregnant in England you'll be offered an ultrasound scan at around 10 to 14 weeks of pregnancy. This is called the dating scan. It's used to see how far along in your pregnancy you are and check your baby's development.

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Is the ultrasound scan safe for your baby? What is a 3D scan? Your first ultrasound scan should be performed in your first trimester of pregnancy. In a usual situation, the scan will show the early pregnancy sac in the womb with the fetus within the sac. This can be seen as early as 5 to 6 weeks of pregnancy. Visualising the pregnancy in the womb is reassuring, because it confirms that it is in the right location.

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6 to 7 Weeks Gestation: Time for Your First Ultrasound

Back to Your pregnancy care. Ultrasound scans use sound waves to build a picture of the baby in the womb. The scans are painless, have no known side effects on mothers or babies, and can be carried out at any stage of pregnancy.

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