BPS Ultrasound

BPS stands for Biophysical Profile Scoring Ultrasound. Detailed information is available in BabyMed and BabyCenter websites. But to give the basic BPS is "a simple, painless test that's performed during pregnancy to assess the baby's well-being, specifically, whether he/she is getting enough oxygen in the womb". It is a combination of Nonstress test and ultrasound examinations ( Fetal tone, fetal movement, fetal breathing and amniotic fluid volume; each test is graded 0 - 2. And a total of 8-10 is considered normal, while below 8 needs further evaluation. Below is a sample grading chart from BabyMed.

August 17, 2013

Baby is at 37 weeks and 4 days already. Doc Joy said we have to take the BPS Ultrasound to check if the baby is ok (or if we can still wait for the due date). So last Saturday we went to De Los Santos Medical Center for my weekly check-up and for the BPS ultrasound.

Doc Joy examined my pelvic and she tried to locate the head of my baby, and she told me that the baby is too high and I might deliver past my due date. And since the baby seems so big (by belly is big) we do not want to extend the pregnancy anymore because the baby will grow bigger and it might be harder for a normal delivery. Additionally, the baby might move and change position (from cephalic), her position now is already perfect. So she suggested walking. Walk walk walk so the baby will engage (head on touching the pelvic floor).

Her ultrasound schedule is in the afternoon, so we had lunch then we waited near the ultrasound department. I was second in line but since the first one was not back yet and Doc Joy has been there already, she examined me first. We paid Php 630 for the ultra sound, Php 550 for the stress test and Php 450 for the reader's fee.

At the ultrasound, my baby scored 8/8 (for the fetal tone, fetal movement, fetal breathing and amniotic fluid volume) and it was confirmed that the my baby is still high. The ultrasound also showed that my baby weight between 6.5 and 8 pounds.