What is this on ultrasound?

[bornintoit]

Hi everyone, so I had an 11 week scan this week and while the two women doing the scan pointed out the brain, legs etc there is something on the ultrasound picture that's puzzling me. I've tried googling ultrasound pictures but I can't find a single one that shows this. At the bottom It's white and goes straight down with what looks like a knob on the end. I did think maybe it was part of the spine but again I can't find any spinal pictures that match what I'm seeing. It doesn't help that baby was in a different position to the majority of ultrasound pictures out there. I was just looking for other people's opinion on it.

Thanks 😊

So how ultrasound works is that it basically gives you an image of a cross section ("slice") of the baby. If you took the real 3D object and sliced it in half, that's what you see. It's neither like an X-ray where you can see all the layers at once, nor a photograph where you see the solid outside only.

Probably what you can see here is that the baby is lying diagonally, with legs closer to the front of the image, so the spine is at an angle and the "slice" shows the spine up to the knobbly part and the rest of it is in the other half of the baby on the other side of the "cut".

That's also why it looks like the baby has no legs. Don't worry, they would have mentioned if the baby had no legs and half a spine!

@BertieBotts Thank you so much for your informative reply. It's very much appreciated 😊

So ladies in U.K.
Heres the no holds barred truth
When I qualified as a Sonographer ( U.K. NHS) we had to be radiographers for at least 2 years then get band 6 job as CT or MRI in order to get on Masters in Ultrasound
That accounts for 7 years training
We need the expertise to read scans and help with diagnosis
Nobody seems to understand the physics of ultrasound. The more of you there is the less we see - that applies to liver kidney gall bladder and especially obstetrics.
Its a probe not a magic wand
So please stop whinging if you’re obese about sonographer/ she’s breaking her wrist and shoulder to get you a semi reasonable pic whilst performing a medical examination

Please if you’re obese understand we simply can’t see

WTAF?

WTAF what? I’m not prepared to ruin my shoulder and job just to try to sex your baby
Go private - they’re paid more

@Manray1066 at no point has op mentioned her weight, your comment is not needed here.
Your comment doesn't even apply her at all, Druid wasn't even a 20 anatomy scan where sex can possibly be seen it was a dating scan.
I suggest you read before you comment.

*it not Druid

Bit random 🤣

@TabithaTitanium I think maybe they had a bad day at work? 😂

Are you on the wrong thread?

Wowsers, they really do let anyone be a healthcare worker no matter how bad the comprehension and bedside manner....

@Manray1066 I think if you want to complain about obese patients then perhaps you should start your own thread, rather than hijacking the OPs thread, where there is no mention of her weight and no complaints about the sonographer.

@Manray1066 can I just say, as a midwife, I think you’re a disgrace.

Lol wtf? You just went from being normal to a complete weirdo asshole in about 2 seconds without any kind of warning there... impressive.

OP glad you had a sensible, informative reply before somebody batshit came on to derail your thread.

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy.

Yeah. You can fuck off. My babies are 18 and I really don't need you to tell me what sex they are, thanks. The OP doesn't need your personal frustration either - luckily, she's had some helpful advice from someone who can read.

@Manray1066 has obviously not written well, or kindly, but I suspect she’s looking at the image posted and coming to a certain conclusion based on the clarity of the image.

Wow I'm glad you were not my sonographer.
I think you might be in the wrong job 🤔

Which to be honest is even worse!

Well, seeing as it could just be a shit photo, yeah.

But if the OP is a little bit overweight how shit will she be feeling now after seeing those unkind comments? Women are sensitive about their weight at the best of times never mind when pregnant. And what she was asking wasn’t related to clarity of the image, it was a specific question about what was something. She wasn’t posting about saying the scan was an unclear image.

So you're bitter because lots of your patients complained about you?

Can't imagine why.

@Manray1066 what a vile thing to say. Ashamed that health professionals like this cause mistrust for patients, and understandably.

Wtf does this have to do with the price of chips?! Such an unnecessary comment.