The question of, "Are all 4D scan successful"? comes up from time to time. The answer is no. If so what can be done about it?

It's important to consider that whenever you book a 4D scan what we are asking for is pictures of your unborn child so that you can get a head start in the bonding process. Have you ever tried to take a picture of a baby and get the right shots and angle that you want? Can be tricky! Inside that sac of fluid are a number of things as well as your baby that sometimes get in the way. It's not only 4D scans that can be an issue if your baby is comfy in a certain position. You can have similar issues during your routine antenatal scans too. We are going to look at the positions that affect 4D scans in this article.

 

Good old "I'm just not in the mood"

As babies are actually small people, in the womb or not, and sometimes they just aren't in the mood and that's ok...Do not look at me!

 

 

 

The Placenta snuggle

Placentas are vital when it comes to the health and well-being of your baby (obviously) but, the thing with babies is they really love snuggling up to them. They are quite big, warm, soft and part of mummy and what better place is there than nuzzling up to your mum if you are a wee baby. We have to keep to strict maximum scan times so if it looks like you baby isn't going to move then we book a new free of charge appointment for another day.

 

  

Peek a Boo

Hands in front of baby's face can make it pretty hard to get nice pictures and would you believe it.... Babies can cover faces with hands, feet or both! Babies have to be really flexible and you will often see babies bent in half. It is a small space that they have to occupy after all! Normally your sonographer would get you to do a bit of wiggling to try to encourage baby to move and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It basically depends on what your baby feels like doing .We can sometimes use the software to go through things that are obstructing the views but failing that we will have to book you another appointment.

 

 

 

 

Umbilical Cord loop the loop

The average umbilical cord is about 50cm long and if your baby has decided that it makes a jolly good toy, then you may see loops of cord in front of your babies face. Cord can be tricky as babies can't really move this for you even with wiggling. There is also blood flowing through the cord which scatters the sound and prevents soundwaves bouncing back to the ultrasound machine but, our sonographer's have their ways, which we aren't going to disclose. Can't be giving away our secret methods now!

  

All of the above at one time. forget it! Let's book your rescan.

 

 

 

 More often than not we only need a couple of short 4D moving clips to obtain many good pictures, but there are those times when it just isn't possible which is why we make re-scan appointments free of charge. We know that babies will do this from time to time...Simply because they are babies...