Review finds ultrasound service shortcomings

Approximately a third of pregnant women are still not routinely offered a scan that can detect fetal abnormalities, 17 years after experts recommended it form a routine part of antenatal care.

The deficiency is among a range of shortcoming in maternity ultrasound services highlighted in the latest edition of the Irish Medical Journal. Others include:

• No expansion in Irish maternity ultrasound services in the past decade;
• Just seven of 19 maternity units offer a fetal anomaly ultrasound to all women;
• Seven offer it selectively;
• Five (26%) don’t offer it at all;
• Routine first trimester ultrasound (pregnancy dating scan) performed in dedicated ultrasound department by a suitably trained sonographer is offered to 47% of women nationally.