At the beginning of pregnancy the most common reason for having an ultrasound is to assess the developing pregnancy. For women considering abortion this is very useful information for making a well-informed decision. The ultrasound can show about how far along the pregnancy is, the position and size of the embryo, the number of embryos, and the heartbeat.

If there is the possibility of a miscarriage or an ectopic pregnancy (i.e. pregnancy in the tube), an ultrasound may provide information to help evaluate either of those possibilities.

Miscarriage occurs in 15-20% of known pregnancies. About 1 in 50 pregnancies is ectopic. If one of these situations exists, then it would be important for you to seek medical treatment. Therefore, a positive pregnancy test should never be used alone to decide whether or not to have an abortion procedure. An ultrasound gives more complete information.

The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) is a national organization that studies the safety of ultrasound. The AIUM has said that 40 years of clinical studies have shown that ultrasound has had no biological risks

An ultrasound requires a doctor's order, therefore medical personnel who are specially trained to do ultrasounds will do the ultrasound procedure. At the PRC, ultrasounds are done by our nurses, who are trained to do limited obstetrical ultrasounds and are under the supervision of our medical director. The report from the ultrasound will be reviewed and signed by a doctor.