By the midpoint of pregnancy, an ultrasound can give you a pretty good prediction of your babys sex (if you want to know). But it is possible for the ultrasound prediction to be incorrect, and youve probably heard stories about people who have prepared for the boy they saw on ultrasound who was actually a girl.

Can a scan give wrong results?

The chances of an error with ultrasound are up to 5 percent, says Schaffir. An ultrasound can be between 95 to 99 percent accurate in determining sex, depending on when its done, how skilled the sonographer is and whether baby is in a position that shows the area between their legs. Mistakes can also be made.

Can an ultrasound be misread?

As with all imaging tests, ultrasound results are subject to interpretation and prone to human error. Any misreading is unfortunate as it can cause extreme emotional distress for the parents and expose the baby and pregnancy to unnecessary interventions.

Can a 7 week scan be wrong?

An Incorrect Pregnancy Date For example, if a woman is seven weeks pregnant and the ultrasound does not reveal a fetal heartbeat, there may be a moment of panic but the explanation could actually be quite simple. Its possible, that the dating of the pregnancy is off, and youre not nearly as far along as you thought.

Can ultrasound technicians tell if something is wrong?

If your ultrasound is being performed by a technician, the technician most likely will not be allowed to tell you what the results mean. In that case, you will have to wait for your doctor to examine the images. Ultrasounds are used during pregnancy to measure the fetus and rule out or confirm suspected problems.

What abnormalities can be detected on an ultrasound?

Major anomalies that can be identified include anencephaly (absent skull and brain; Figure 1), acrania (absent skull), and holoprosencephaly (no division into separate hemispheres, with absence of midline structures; Figure 2).

Can your gestational age be wrong?

It is possible for gestational age to be inaccurate by up to 2 weeks, even with an accurate LMP date confirmed by other tests.

Can ultrasound detect abnormalities in fetus?

Ultrasound can also be used for first trimester genetic screening, as well as screening for abnormalities of your uterus or cervix. In the second or third trimester a standard ultrasound is done to evaluate several features of the pregnancy, including fetal anatomy.