Ultrasound taken in OB/Gyn's office?

[Anonymous]

Hi, I'm a first time expectant mom here. Is it normal for my ob/gyn to send me to another location to get my ultrasounds? I always thought that you got an ultrasound when you see your doctor, in their office. During normal pregnancies, how often are ultrasounds taken? Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

a lot of OBs don't have their own ultrasound equipment. my OB does not, but he sends me to another office in the same building that has one. i saw an RE at the beginning of this pregnancy and it was very nice to have access to sono equipment whenever he thought it was necessary (now my Dr. has to make an appointment for me) but it hasn't been a problem for me so far.

[Anonymous]

Totally normal, although some practices do have an in-house person to do it. My last 2 OBs (GW MFA and Physicians and Midwives) sent me out to do it, but my current one in another state has someone at her office since it's a large practice. It's a tech they hired away from the local hospital so I feel pretty good about it, plus they schedule it so my ultrasound and regular doctor appt are at the same time. I was surprised that it was in the office and my doctor did give me the option to go to the local hospital for the ultrasound (I did go to the hospital for the nuchal U/S) but so much easier to stay with the docs.

During normal pregnancies I think you may get one at the beginning to see the heartbeat, then a comprehensive one around 18-20 weeks, and after that it depends on if there's something the doctor wants to check out. That's been my experience anyway, but I think that different doctors have their preferences. It probably also depends on your insurance. Some women request additional ultrasounds because they want the pictures.

[Anonymous]

Some offices do and some don't . My ob/gyn office does have one, but for more specific tests I am sent to a perinatalogist at the hospital.

Same with some of the blood work. My doc. office can do a few of the tests in house right there, but for other testing the samples are sent out.

Just depends. Just make sure the insur. covers it. There might be some billing code issues (as I found out).