An Incorrect Pregnancy Date For example, if a woman is seven weeks pregnant and the ultrasound does not reveal a fetal heartbeat, there may be a moment of panic but the explanation could actually be quite simple. Its possible, that the dating of the pregnancy is off, and youre not nearly as far along as you thought.

Is a 7 week scan too early?

You may be referred for an early scan because of vaginal bleeding or spotting, or possibly because you have had problems in a previous pregnancy. The best time to have a scan is from about 7 weeks gestation when it should be possible to see the babys heartbeat in a normal pregnancy.

Can early dating scan be wrong?

Even dating scans can be inaccurate for the due date, but they are never as inaccurate as using the menstrual period. For instance a dating scan done at 6 weeks could get the date wrong five days either way.

Can sonographers get due date wrong?

A recent study3 of women who conceived by IVF and therefore knew when their egg was fertilised, found that the routine ultrasound dating scan consistently put their estimated birth date earlier than it should have been by an average of 3 days.

Can dating scans be 4 weeks wrong?

It is very common when scanning an early pregnancy to find that the due date does not match the menstrual history. Sometimes the dates can be more than a week off and sometimes even as much as 4 weeks.