Sonograms are one of the most commonly used procedures on pregnant women. More often than not, sonographers typically handle obstetric and gynecologic cases or prenatal cases for both the mother and the fetus. Because sonograms are quite safe compared to other diagnostic procedures, they are the best choice when checking the condition of the unborn baby.
Antenatal care
Doppler sonography has proven invaluable when giving antenatal care to both the mother and the child. Sonography is able to check the condition of the baby before birth, giving the health care team an idea on how to care for him or her. This is quite helpful if the fetus has a congenital defect that requires immediate diagnosis and treatment in the antenatal period. The same goes for the management of the mother after the birth, especially if she has a condition that needs further management once the baby has been born.
High-risk pregnancies
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High-risk pregnancies are defined as such if the mother has a set of preexisting conditions or risk factors that can make the pregnancy and delivery of the baby dangerous. This can be a preexisting disease such as cardiac problems, diabetes, and epilepsy or risk factors such as smoking and alcoholism. High-risk pregnancies are not only dangerous for the mother, they are dangerous for the fetus as well. The presence of risk factors can greatly affect the growth of the child, such as children born from alcoholic mothers being very low in birth weight.
Doppler ultrasound
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The concept of a Doppler ultrasound uses the concept of the Doppler, wherein information can be taken by analyzing changes in waveforms (the sound waves sent by a sonogram). Dopplers are used to assess the blood flow and heart beat of the baby in utero. It is used in determining pre-eclampsia or intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) among other health conditions. Because not all diagnostic procedures can be used on pregnant women and fetuses, sonography remains the gold standard in diagnosis whether a pregnancy is high risk or not.
Sonographers who specialize in OB-GYN will not have a hard time finding a job because the demand for them is high all over the country, with great annual income as well. If you’re just starting out on deciding your career path, make sure to apply to accredited cardiac sonography programs to receive the best quality sonography training. There are currently 211 schools in the US in 2014 that are accredited to give sonography education. |