In Belgium, three ultrasound scans (one per trimester) are performed and re-imbursed by the national health care system when the pregnancy is non-complicated. In some circumstances, the practitioner could prescribe extra scans, and since they are indicated, these scans are also re-imbursed by the national heath care system. Finally, you could yourself decide to have a 3D or 3-dimmentionnal-ultrasound with the purpose to have 3D images and movies of your future baby. Such a scan is not medically indicated, and as a consequence you will not get any re-imbursement by the national heath care system. Ultrasound scans, whether they are indicated or not, are completely harmless. The purpose of these 3 ultrasound scans during pregnancy can be summarized as follows:
1) The first trimester ultrasound scan, performed at 11 to 13 weeks and 6 days of gestation:
- o Define the number of embryos
- o Establish the precise gestational age
- o Diagnose most of major abnormities
- o Identify a high risk group for chromosomal abnormalities, such as trisomy 21, using ultrasound and biochemical markers. Plan for invasive testing based on the results of the integrated test, or since January 2013, plan for a non-invasif prenatal testing.
- o Identify a high risk group for structural abnormalities and planify a specialised early morphological scan.
- o Identify a high risk group for pre-eclampsia, premature birth, etc.. with the purpose to start preventive treatment.
2) The second trimester ultrasound scan, performed at 20 to 22 weeks of gestation:
- o Check for the complete and detailed morphology of the fetus in order to detect eventual abnormalities
- o Evaluate fetal growth and well being
- o Predict the risk of premature birth
3) The third trimester ultrasound scan, performed at 30 to 32 weeks of gestation:
- o Evaluate fetal growth and predict fetal weight
- o Evaluate fetal well being, including blood flow placental measurement
- o Evaluate fetal and placental position
- o Diagnose some late appearing fetal abnormalities
List of health care professionals who have attended the internet based course on The 11-13 weeks scan and received the Competence Certificate:
- Sophie Ben Youssef
- Margherita Condorelli
- Teresa Cos Sanchez
- Nicolas Delbar
- Sabine El Batrouny
- Ann-Sophie Evrard
- Stéphanie Giannini
- Meriem Guizani
- Jacques Jani
- Yasmine Kacem
- Xin Kang
- Sabine Lemal
- Adrien Cardona Louis Jean
- Carmela Votino
- Raffaella Votino
- Samir Ziane