is it normal for ultrasound technicians to remain tight-lipped?

[meowee]

I had my level II sono today, hoping they would tell me if everything was ok (the baby had a cystic hygroma/ abnormal nuchal fold at the last sono), but the technician refused to say anything, saying I would have to talk to my dr (who won't get the report until monday!), and she even refused to give me a picture of the baby showing its body-- she said it was their policy only to give out "face" images.

If there had been something seriously wrong do you think they would have brought in the dr then and there? That's what happened last time, they finished with the scan and then ushered me into the dr's office immediately.

[FiberLover]

Hmmm. In my experience, no.

Even when I went in because I suspected miscarriage, and yes, that was the case, the technician talked to me the whole time.

That really sucks that you have to wait til Monday!

I'm thinking all is well, and your baby is healthy .

[vickjul]

Ours was today. We also got a face shot only, and the technician told us very little beyond, "Well, I can tell you what you're having!"

Beyond that, she said a radiologist would review the images and get back in touch with us if he saw any cause for concern.

[quarteralien]

It's sort of a heirarchy of medicine. They are just techs. They can't really do any interpretation and have to leave that up to doctors to do. I think they can actually get in trouble for it, because it isn't their job. So yes, it's normal. Sucks, but so does most of modern medicine.

[quarteralien]

It's sort of a heirarchy of medicine. They are just techs. They can't really do any interpretation and have to leave that up to doctors to do. I think they can actually get in trouble for it, because it isn't their job. So yes, it's normal. Sucks, but so does most of modern medicine.

[eclipse]

I think it's normal for them to not say if they see anything of concern/not of concern because they aren't technically qualified to make diagnoses (even if they probably could, having seen practically everything. ) I do think "face only" is a weird policy, and not one I've come across in three pregnancies. I always got lots of body, feet, hands, gender pics.

[JunebugsMom]

Most places have a policy that the U/S techs really aren't supposed to tell you anything. Of course it's my experience that some of them "share" more than others. Try not to worry, mama. That really sucks that you have to wait, though. After our level II U/S we always get to talk with the doc right away (in one case everything was fine and in the other case they thought there might be problems).

[Emily12581]

Here if a tech says anythign and they are wrong, the hospital can be sued with malpractice. They are not allowed to diagnose or even elude to conditions. They do let you watch the whole thing here though and give body shots.

[~Megan~]

I got lots of pics both times but from the different techs I've had at different times some were chatty and others weren't. None offered any medical information though.

[madiesmommy]

We had one at the hopsital with dd, and they did not talk to us the whole time. She took a pic of gender, told us that but couldn't tell us which one it was. Only the doc could do that. Thankfully, the supervising doc came in and told us, and also told us the heart was fine (our 4th u/s to make sure it had all the right chambers).

Now, all of our ultrasounds at the docs office are with chatty techs. But they are not there to diagnose anything. They take the measurements, pics, point out parts, etc. Then we go to our doc who reviews everything in his office with us. Our office ultrasounds have always been way different from the hopsital one we had with dd...where they wouldn't tell us much about what they were even measuring.

I'm sorry you have to wait until Monday!!

[Amila]

In my experience for DD #1 at our 20 week ultrasound the tech pretty much told us everything looked fine, but that the doctor would look over it and send the official report to the midwife. It was positive, and I left not worrying. With this one at our 7 week ultrasound, the tech was stiff, and was unwilling to say anything- so I think it just depends on the policy and their personality. Healthy vibes!!!

[meowee]

Thanks for your responses.... in my experience over 5 pregnancies, I've found that ultrasound techs have gotten less and less chatty. I did get the sense that she was following "policy" but for pity's sake, after all they put me through with the nuchal thing, and having a CVS there, they could have given me some kind of feedback!

[mrs rockstar]

Mine have always been pretty close mouthed, just pointing out what I was looking at, legs, arms, heartbeat, kidneys, stuff like that and telling me what they are measuring but as far as detailed stuff, nope. I have to wait until I see my doctor or midwife.

[sunnymw]

Heh, here's the funny thing abour our u/s with DS1:

The tech was just tight lipped, rigid, and professional. Very short. Didn't say a word except "There's the head, there's the leg, etc". Then she said, burst out all of a sudden, "Oh, my GOD, THAT's a BOY!"

Then looked at us, horrified and shocked, and said, "Oh, God, you did want to know, RIGHT?" And we laughed (yes we did) and she explained that she'd never seen one THAT BIG and she'd been a tech for 15 years... plus this was at 18 weeks, not 20! She was relieved and started laughing with us, and from then on was pretty chatty and funny, and also remembered us as soon as we walked in two months later for the 4d.

So thanks to my well-endowed DS (who at 16 months still puts his 5 yo cousins to shame) we broke the ice

[mhaddon]

Hmmm... I haven't had that happen yet. W/ my u/s she would point out everything and tell me that it looked good and told us the sex and gave us 4-5 shots including the face shots...
Sorry! It sucks having to wait.

[Blu Razzberri]

I didn't read the rest of the responses; so I might be repeating; but... yes. Ultrasound techs aren't supposed to comment because they're not doctors. They're like specialist photographers. They know stuff medically and they learn things over the years; but I imagine that to say anything might land them in legal hot water; and therefore they don't.

[wendy1221]

I had a rude tech who wouldn't even let me see the screen when I was pg w/ ds3. She was mean to my older kids who I brought along, and she wouldn't let ANYONE see the screen, not even dh and the boys! She gave us a pic of his face and his feet and that was it. I had to ask her to check if it was a boy or girl (my actual ONLY reason for having the u/s in the first place!) and she rolled her eyes and acted like she was doing me a HUGE favor and she wasn't supposed to do this. Some techs are just jerks.

[calynde]

OMG...I'm soooooo glad we don't have techs here doing the ultrasounds. It's always given by your doctor right there in their office. It seems so weird to me to have to go through a "middleman"...



I just don't get it.

Anyway, good luck on Monday!! I'm sure it's good news.

[red_trillium]

i've had some that were nicer than others(i've had 4 us), but they've never commented on how things look, or anything medical. the last time with dd i had an awful one who was very "all business".

it would be really nice if the actual dr's did the ultrasounds! ours have always been in the outpatient lab area of the hospital by the techs, and they just do them quickly and then send the results to the dr. who then gives you nothing more than "things look good" or "we'll need another us". which is what happened with dd. even the dr wouldn't say anything about the ultrasound untill we did another one in case something was wrong, or not wrong.

sucks to live in such a sue happy world.

[Gypsy.Momma]

My Ultrasound Tech didn't say a word to me just told me it was a boy then the next day I got a phone call about 3 soft markers. My tech told me they aren't allowed to say anything other then the sex of the baby