Are Hospital ultrasounds really inaccurate?

Question

My son is rather big and I had gotten an ultrasound at the hospital on 4/10/16 and they measured him up to 30 weeks and 5 days. But my ob/gyn says they won't change my due date because the hospital measurements are inaccurate. So the want to go by my LMP due date (6/25/16) not the hospital ultrasound (6/14/2016).

Answer

Doctors like to go by ur earliest ultrasound to give you a due date after that ultrasound can change that's why they go by the first its the most accurate

Answer

They will almost always go by your first dating ultrasound. Ultrasounds are not very accurate later on in pregnancy. They are usually off a couple pounds +/-. For example my friend had to get weekly ultrasounds and they said her baby was measuring big and she shouldn't be surprised if she has a 9lb+ baby. She went 5 days overdue and her baby was only 7lbs 12oz.

Answer

Babies only grow at the same rate up to a certain point, then they kind of do their own thing. So doctors won't go by size to give a gestational age that late in the game because babies are all over the board size wise (within reason). You've just got a big baby!

Answer

They're right. You cannot go by the latest ultrasound because all babies are different sizes at this point. So that wouldn't make sense to change a due date.

Answer

The LMP is more accurate, especially when you have been keeping track of ovulation and when you had intercourse. US is usually used to estimate due date especially for those who had a surprise pregnancy, don't remember the LMP date/ or are irregular, or didn't know they were pregnant. US is not 100% accurate but it's pretty close.

Answer

Ultrasounds can be as much as 15% off in their estimate of size.  Early on in pregnancy, size is much more standard (all babies are roughly the same size regardless of how big they will end up).  After 20 weeks or so, size begins to depend more on the actual genetics of the child and is much more variable so it can't be used to estimate age anywhere near as well.

Answer

Keep in mind, everyone does ultrasounds differently. There's no way to have a 100% technique for everyone to follow. That's why ultrasounds are completely accurate. They're accurate enough to see problems and that's why we use them.

Answer

If they changed due dates by babys sizes and growths o my goodness is be a week backwards every visit

Are Hospital ultrasounds really inaccurate?

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