When is the best time to have a malformation check?

During pregnancy, mothers are very concerned about the development of the fetus in their belly. If the fetus is not developing well or is malnourished, then the child's symptoms can be determined through examination. To check whether the child has deformities, you must go to the hospital for a deformity screening. Through the deformity screening, you can know the development of the fetus and whether the child has deformities. So when is the best time to do a deformity screening?

Major fetal malformation screening is an examination to check whether the fetal development is abnormal through B-ultrasound, so as to rule out any abnormalities. Moreover, we have also learned about the contents of the major fetal malformation examination above, which is very comprehensive. It mainly checks whether the baby's development in the uterus is in accordance with the gestational age, whether the fetus is healthy, how the limbs, brain, and internal organs develop, and excludes some congenital diseases, but not 100%, as well as the normal conditions of the amniotic fluid and umbilical cord. The major fetal malformation examination is very important for both babies and pregnant women. Therefore, all expectant mothers should pay attention to the major fetal malformation examination. So, when is the best time to do a major fetal malformation screening? Let’s find out together!

Generally, color ultrasound can be performed to screen for fetal anomalies before delivery around 20 to 24 weeks. Four-dimensional color ultrasound can display the color, face, development of various organs, and even the status of the fetus in the mother's body in three dimensions. It can provide early diagnosis for fetal malformations such as cleft lip, cleft palate, skeletal abnormalities, and cardiovascular malformations. However, if you take a 3D color ultrasound, the picture will be clearer at 26-28 weeks, as the baby will be fleshier at that time and will look better in the photo. Some netizens said that it is better to do it in the afternoon, because they think that babies generally do not move much in the morning, but move more in the afternoon and evening. However, there is generally no difference between the morning and afternoon, because even if you feel that the baby is not moving, it does not necessarily mean that he is not moving. You will only feel it when he moves a lot.

Inspection method

Fetal malformation falls under the category of fetal birth defects, which are abnormalities in the fetus's body structure or function that already exist before birth. Birth defects can involve various organs and tissues throughout the body. Common ones include chromosomal abnormalities and single gene diseases. Once chromosomal abnormalities occur, they will manifest as multiple malformations of multiple tissues and organs in the body. It is an untreatable disease. When the defect or disease is incurable and poses a serious threat to survival, termination of pregnancy is sometimes the only option.

Therefore, fetal abnormality screening during pregnancy is very important. There are two types of fetal abnormality screening. One is the screening for chromosomal diseases, which means that Down syndrome screening or non-invasive DNA testing can be done from 12-16 weeks of pregnancy. Common chromosomal diseases include trisomy 21, trisomy 18, trisomy 13, and sex chromosome abnormality syndrome. Another type is the B-ultrasound fetal fetal abnormality examination. Generally, the first major fetal fetal abnormality examination is done at the 20th week of pregnancy, and the second fetal fetal abnormality examination is done at around the 28th week of pregnancy. B-ultrasound screening is a full-body examination of the fetus, which can detect major structural abnormalities in the fetus's organs.

There are two main methods of B-ultrasound examination:

One is three-dimensional color ultrasound: a three-dimensional dynamic display color Doppler ultrasound diagnostic instrument. It not only has all the functions of two-dimensional color ultrasound, but also can perform three-dimensional imaging of the fetal head and face. It can clearly display the status of the eyes, nose, mouth and jaw, and can assist doctors in directly diagnosing congenital malformations of the fetus, including surface malformations and visceral malformations.

The other is four-dimensional color ultrasound: it not only has all the functions of three-dimensional color ultrasound, but also can add time dimension parameters on the basis of three-dimensional color ultrasound images to realize the observation of dynamic activity images of the fetus. Four-dimensional color ultrasound can more clearly see fetal malformations, especially fetal malformations such as cleft lip.

Above, we introduced the best time for fetal malformation screening and various methods of fetal malformation screening. After knowing the methods of fetal malformation screening, you should go to the hospital for examination in time to see the development of the fetus. This examination method is better than the Down syndrome screening, but Down syndrome screening should also be done at six months of pregnancy, and amniocentesis should be done at seven months of pregnancy.