Do I need to hold my urine for the 42-day ultrasound check?

Among the examinations after childbirth, the most important one is to do B-ultrasound. Generally, people need to hold their urine when doing B-ultrasound. If they cannot hold their urine in advance, it may affect the results of the examination. However, not everyone needs to hold their urine when doing B-ultrasound. So, do you need to hold your urine when you go for a follow-up B-ultrasound 42 days after giving birth? Is it okay to go for an examination 43 days after giving birth?

Do I need to hold my urine for a follow-up ultrasound 42 days after giving birth?

B-ultrasound examination is very important during postpartum check-up. If it is an abdominal B-ultrasound examination, you need to hold your urine, but if it is an intravaginal B-ultrasound examination, you do not need to hold your urine.

Abdominal B-ultrasound examination often requires holding urine because the uterus and ovaries are hidden inside the pelvis, and the colon usually relaxes into the pelvis. During abdominal B-ultrasound, intestinal peristalsis and contents can affect the image of the uterus and ovaries, resulting in unclear displayed information. Therefore, you need to drink a lot of water before the test to fill your bladder and guide your intestines upward.

If a color Doppler ultrasound examination is performed when the bladder is not full, the gas in the bladder and the uterus may overlap, resulting in misdiagnosis. However, it is not necessary to hold urine during all gynecological transabdominal B-ultrasounds. It is completely unnecessary in the following situations: After 8 weeks of pregnancy, the uterus has grown and risen to the abdomen, naturally leading the intestines upward, and there is amniotic fluid in the uterine cavity. At this time, there is no need to hold urine to observe the fetus.

The reason why intravaginal B-ultrasound examination often does not require holding urine is that intravaginal B-ultrasound can directly see the image of the uterus and its appendages without being affected by the intestines, so there is no need to hold urine. The instrument used in vaginal B-ultrasound is actually the same as that used in abdominal B-ultrasound, except that it uses a special camera. During the examination, a layer of plastic film (usually a condom) must be covered on the camera, and then the camera is inserted into the vagina for examination to detect the situation in the pelvis. Although this test is simple, it is not suitable for everyone. If there is a lot of bleeding (menstrual period), it is not suitable to perform vaginal B-ultrasound.