Making sense of early IVF pregnancy scans

IVF patients are very excited when their beta HCG is positive - they are finally pregnant, and can now start dreaming of holding their longed-for baby in their hands in a few months. However, the truth is that not every pregnancy results in a baby - and this is as true of IVF pregnancies as bedroom pregnancies. About 15% of all pregnancies will miscarry, and IVF does not reduce the risk of a miscarriage.This is why we do ultrasound scans - to confirm your pregnancy is healthy.  Here is a simple flowchart to help you make sense of how the doctor interprets your pregnancy scan results.Please note that all early pregnancy scans need to be vaginal ultrasound scans - abdominal scans don't provide enough details to make the right diagnosis. Vaginal scans are safe and will not hurt your pregnancy.If the scan is done very early, the doctor will not see a pregnancy ( gestational) sac on the scan, because it's either too small, or it's not in the uterus ( if you have an ectopic pregnancy). Scans should only be done after  your HCG level is more than 1000 mIU/ml - doing it before this is pointless, because it's too early to see the sac.If the doctor can see a pregnancy sac in the uterus, but cannot see an embryo/fetus inside the pregnancy on the scan, this is no reason to panic. Sometimes this is because the sonographer may not be skilled, or the machine may not provide enough  resolution. You should then repeat the scan after a few days - preferably at a more advanc...
Source: Dr.Malpani's Blog - Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: blogs