Question

[natural_mama89]

Do ultrasound technicians have to tell you if they know something is wrong with the baby, or do you have to wait to find out form your HCP? I just had an ultrasound today that I would not have had if I had not wanted to know the sex of the baby. Turns out, they couldn't tell because of positioning (same thing happened with my DS). Now I am super worried that they might have "found" something that would risk me out of a homebirth. I wish I hadn't gotten the stupid thing because it was pointless in my opinion, other than making me worry. I just seem to be way more worried about something going wrong this time than I was with my first. I don't know if that is simply because I know more about the things that can go wrong now or what. I at least want to know that if they didn't say anything, than my baby is fine.

[blissful_maia]

It depends if you had an actual radiologist or just a technician do the scan. Radiologists are doctors, trained to interpret U/S results and they have the right to report to patients. Technicians just do the measurements, etc. and give their report to the radiologist to interpret and report.

I'm sure everything's fine, mama! Sorry babe didn't co-operate.

[natural_mama89]

You can't be sure that everything is fine. I know there is a good chance nothing is wrong, but that doesn't mean it is impossible.

[DoomaYula]

Originally Posted by natural_mama89

You can't be sure that everything is fine. I know there is a good chance nothing is wrong, but that doesn't mean it is impossible.

Jeez, blissful_maia sent you a hug and was just trying to be supportive! :

AND she gave you info about the difference between a radiologist and a tech.

How nice of you to snap back like that

In your op, you don't give any reason that the tech may have found something wrong -- you didn't say the tech took a long time, or said, "hmmm..." or something like that.

So... whatever...

[natural_mama89]

I didn't mean to come off as "snapping"

It is just the truth, it's not the PP writer's fault. The info about the ultrasound tech versus radiologist is good. Is there a way I could find out which one it was that did my ultrasound?

[blissful_maia]

Yikes.

[Jane]

It really depends on the person doing the exam and what the person ordering the exam wants. For instance, I know of one tech that was scaring moms...she just had bad bedside manner, so the midwife told the u/s place "absolutely no information to clients". However, with a good tech, the information was free flowing.
I do know, typically, if anything is seriously wrong, our local places call the midwife during the exam and don't let the client go until the midwife is contacted. Otherwise, the report comes in at the regular time, about 24-48 hours later. Because I know this, I can tell clients that, if they are let leave, then nothing is seriously wrong in the eyes of the tech.
However, things may be different in your area.

[jerawo]

I think the techs are supposed to be noncommittal. The doctors are supposed to look at the scans and write up the report to give you the answers.

I had a late scan at 38 weeks to look for a goiter on my baby. The tech was pretty clear that she didn't think there was one even though DS's arms were covering his neck, but she still hemmed and hawed. However there were a couple of other things she found during the scan (like low fluids) and she did not tell me about those, and I only found out after my MW read the report.