Well firstly - thank god it's Friday!! Today I've not really done any x-raying since I spent the morning in ante-natal with the sonographers and this afternoon I had to do the annual mandatory training modules. Loved this morning in the ante-natal clinic. Was mostly 20 weeks scans (or anomaly scans as they're called) which aren't just to tell the sex of the baby which to be honest I thought was a big factor. These days it's all you ever hear about and as I say, I'd not given it much thought beyond that.
Basically at the 20 week scan they look at various anatomical structures to check for their presence and take measurements and that things are as they should be. This is so that if necessary they can make necessary preparations for the birth and if mum and baby need to be sent to a special hospital for the delivery then it can all be organised well in advance and a close eye kept on the situation. Also, the measurements are used to date the pregnancy.
They look at the whole foetus literally from head to toe. The brain and structures such as the lateral ventricles and the cerebellum and checked for the shape and to check there is not too much fluid as these can be signs of spina bifida in the baby or other conditions such as hydrocephalus I think. I know they look at the ventricles to check there's not too much fluid present and that the cerebellum is a nice "dumbbell" shape rather than "banana" shaped. They also measure the size of the brain, check the skin at the back of the neck and measure the circumference of the skull.
It was amazing to see all the technology and whatnot the radiographer had at their fingertips and I didn't realise it was such a thorough examination! All very re-assuring for the parents and once again I was really impressed and learned a lot just by observing how the radiographers communicated and interacted with the patients.
Other things they looked at and checked for were the shape of the spine and the ossification centres. They also checked the skin as well, again looking for signs of spina bifida. The baby's heart, kidneys, bladder and stomach were also checked for their presence or defects because obviously absence of some of the structures they are looking for are not compatible with life. The length of the femur is also measured as well as the orientation of the feet and toes to check for conditions such as talipes and to check the progress of the pregnancy.
The thinking behind the 20 week scans is that the foetus is big enough to see structures and flag up abnormalities. At this stage if it will obviously be a severe disability of the developmental issue isn't compatible with life it gives the parents the chance to have a termination.
I did actually see a scan to check the conservative management of a miscarriage and it was so sad. I went to call the patient and at the time I didn't know the patient's history and nearly tried to strike up a bit of a conversation with them about whether it was her first scan/baby etc and so on but something stopped me because I was uncertain if it was the right thing to do. I was so glad I didn't after I found out they were there following a miscarriage early on in the pregnancy because I felt bad for her for what she was going through as it was, nevermind if I'd put my foot in it before we even got to nitty gritty. I also saw scans to check for things like ectopic pregnancies and ovarian cysts and seeing these patients made me realise that you have to be really careful what you say to people and you can't assume anything at all.
I was pleasantly surprised by my time spent in ultrasound this week and it is something I would definitely like to pursue in the future, so although I've not done much in the way of x-ray this week it definitely wasn't wasted. I would absolutely love to be a sonographer one day :-))))
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