Finding the right tests…
Emergency services available 24 x 7
Emergency services available 24 x 7
Finding the right tests…
Sonography
A GROWTH SCAN tracks how your baby is growing across pregnancy, not just how things look at a single visit. Using measurements of the head, abdomen, and thigh bone, your doctor works out an estimated weight and compares it against expected ranges for your baby's stage. It's typically used in the third trimester, when there's a specific reason to watch growth closely, such as a baby measuring smaller or larger than expected for dates. One scan gives a single data point. What separates a genuine growth concern from a baby who is simply, healthily, smaller is comparing that measurement against an earlier one, which is why this scan is often repeated over several weeks rather than done once.
This scan measures your baby's head, abdomen, and thigh bone to estimate weight, then compares that estimate against expected ranges for the pregnancy's stage. Repeating it every few weeks lets your doctor plot an actual growth trend rather than reading one measurement alone.
Every baby follows its own growth pattern across pregnancy, and spotting a genuine problem depends less on a single measurement than on the pattern over time. A GROWTH SCAN is built around that idea, tracking size across more than one visit rather than checking it once.
The scan measures your baby's head circumference, abdominal circumference, and thigh bone length, then combines these into an estimated weight. That estimate is compared against expected ranges for the pregnancy's stage, giving your doctor a sense of whether growth is tracking as expected, running ahead, or falling behind.
A baby who measures smaller than average at one visit might simply be constitutionally smaller, following a steady curve of their own, rather than showing a genuine growth problem. Comparing measurements from two or more visits, spaced weeks apart, is what lets your doctor tell the two apart, since a flattening growth trend reads differently from one that's lower but still climbing steadily.
This is typically used in the third trimester, when a baby is measuring smaller or larger than expected for the stage of pregnancy, or when an earlier scan already raised a question about growth. Your doctor may also check the fluid around your baby and blood flow through the umbilical cord alongside the growth measurements themselves.
It measures your baby's head, abdomen, and thigh bone to estimate weight, then compares that estimate against expected ranges for the stage of pregnancy.
A single measurement can't show a trend. Repeating the scan every few weeks lets your doctor compare readings over time and see whether growth is tracking steadily rather than judging from one visit alone.
It's typically used in the third trimester, when there's a specific reason to watch growth closely, such as a baby measuring smaller or larger than expected for dates.
No. Some babies are constitutionally smaller and follow a steady, healthy curve of their own. Comparing measurements over more than one visit is what helps your doctor tell that apart from a genuine growth concern.
This page is general information about the test, not medical advice. Your own report's reference ranges apply — please discuss your results with your doctor.
Yes. An anatomy scan checks structure and organs at one point in time. A growth scan focuses specifically on size and weight, tracked across repeated visits.
No. It's an ultrasound-based scan using sound waves, with no radiation exposure at all.
There's no single preparation that applies to every patient. Ask your doctor or the centre what they'd like you to do beforehand.