Seeing your baby before they are even born is one of the most exciting moments of pregnancy. For many years, parents only had standard 2D ultrasounds. These traditional pictures look like flat, blurry gray shadows. While medical experts can see everything they need to see in those flat shadows, it is often very hard for parents to understand what they are looking at.
This is why 3D ultrasounds have become incredibly popular. A 3D ultrasound uses special computer software to take thousands of pictures all at once and build a realistic, fleshy image of your baby. You can actually see the shape of their tiny nose, the curve of their lips and their chubby cheeks. However, if you want the perfect picture for your refrigerator, timing is everything.
Overview
If you want the best, clearest pictures of your baby’s face, the absolute best time to get a 3D ultrasound is between 26 and 32 weeks of your pregnancy. During this specific window, the baby has developed enough fat to look like a newborn, but is still small enough to float freely in the water. If you go too early, the baby will look very skinny. If you go too late, the baby will be squished tightly against your stomach wall, and the camera will not be able to see their face. Following a few simple steps will help you get the beautiful pictures you are hoping for.
Step 1: Choose the perfect timeframe
The most important step is booking your appointment during the golden window, from 26 to 32 weeks. When you are pregnant, your baby grows and changes every single day. According to the Mayo Clinic, before 26 weeks, your baby is growing their bones and their vital organs. They do not have very much fat under their skin yet.
If you get a 3D picture taken at this early stage, the baby’s face will look very thin, and you might even see the shape of the bones beneath their skin, which can look slightly scary rather than cute.
As the Cleveland Clinic points out, right around 27 weeks, the baby starts to put on baby fat rapidly. Their face fills out, and their skin becomes smooth. Between 26 and 32 weeks, they look exactly like the chubby baby you will soon hold in your arms.
Step 2: Hydrate your body heavily
The second step starts a week or two before your actual appointment. You need to start drinking a massive amount of plain water.
Ultrasound machines use sound waves that are invisible to the naked eye to produce images. These sound waves need a clear, full pool of water to travel through, as the Mayo Clinic explains. The water surrounding your baby is called amniotic fluid. If you are drinking enough water, this fluid will be very clear and plentiful. The camera can easily look right through the clear fluid to see the baby’s face perfectly.
If you are dehydrated and not drinking enough water, the fluid around your baby becomes very low and cloudy, according to Healthline. The sound waves don’t travel well, so your pictures will come out muddy, dark and blurry. Drinking extra water every day for two whole weeks before your appointment is the greatest secret to getting perfect pictures.
Step 3: Get medical clearance first
A 3D ultrasound is almost always considered elective. This means it is done for fun and to make memories, not for medical reasons.
Before you visit a specialized boutique or private clinic, make sure your regular doctor has already completed your essential medical checkups. The Mayo Clinic explains that you should always have your standard 20-week anatomy scan performed by your actual doctor first. During the 20-week scan, a trained medical professional assesses the baby’s heart, brain and spine to ensure they are healthy.
The people who run 3D ultrasound boutiques are often just photographers, not doctors. They are not trained to find sicknesses or problems. You should only get a 3D ultrasound for fun after your doctor confirms your baby is growing safely and normally.
Tips and best practices
Sometimes babies are very stubborn. You might arrive at your appointment and find the baby with their hands covering their face, or looking completely backward. There are a few tricks you can use to wake them up and get them to move into a better position for the camera.
First, try to schedule your appointment when your baby is usually most active. If your baby always kicks and moves around right after lunch, schedule your ultrasound for the early afternoon.
Second, eat a small snack about 30 minutes before you walk into the clinic. Drinking a small glass of cold apple juice or orange juice is an excellent idea. The natural sugars in the fruit juice, combined with the cold temperature, will quickly travel to the baby and give them a small burst of energy. This often makes the baby wiggle, swallow or even smile while the camera is rolling.
If you are lying in bed and the baby is completely hiding their face against your back, the technician might ask you to roll over. Rolling onto your left side and resting there for five minutes increases the blood flow to your stomach. This rush of fresh blood often wakes the baby, prompting them to turn around and show their face to the camera.
What are the risks of 3D ultrasound?
As B.Sc Researcher, Tunde Rasheed, explains, “When used correctly by a healthcare provider, ultrasounds are considered very safe. They do not use dangerous radiation as an X-ray machine does. Instead, they use sound waves that bounce. However, there is a risk when you use them purely for entertainment. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) strongly warns pregnant women against going to commercial ‘keepsake’ ultrasound boutiques. The machine sends high-frequency sound waves into your body, and these waves can actually heat the tissues in your stomach.”
If an untrained worker leaves the camera resting on one spot on your stomach for too long to get a perfect picture of the baby’s nose, it can slightly raise the water temperature around the baby. While we do not know for sure if this mild heating causes permanent damage, medical experts agree that it is simply not worth the risk to heat your baby’s environment just for a photograph.
Can too many ultrasounds harm a baby?
Because of the heating risk mentioned above, you should not get an ultrasound every single week. Your baby is growing and changing, and their tiny body is very sensitive to outside energy.
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), there is currently no hard proof that standard ultrasounds cause congenital disabilities or childhood problems. However, they state that ultrasound energy should be used only when there is a true medical need.
Going to a boutique for a one-hour 3D ultrasound session exposes your baby to a lot more energy than a quick 10-minute medical checkup at your doctor’s office. Doing this over and over again throughout your pregnancy is highly discouraged. Keep the fun 3D sessions to a maximum of one or two visits during your pregnancy to keep your baby completely safe.
Bottom line
The best time to get a clear, beautiful 3D ultrasound of your baby’s face is between 26 and 32 weeks of pregnancy, when they have enough body fat to look like a newborn but still have room to move. While getting a keepsake photo is a wonderful experience, you should always ensure you are drinking plenty of water beforehand and limit these elective sessions to avoid exposing your baby to unnecessary ultrasound energy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 24 weeks too early for a 3D ultrasound?
Yes, 24 weeks is generally too early because the baby lacks subcutaneous fat, so their face will look very thin and skeletal in the pictures.
Is 36 weeks too late to get a 3D ultrasound?
Yes, 36 weeks is usually too late because the baby has grown too large, their head is likely resting deep in your pelvis and there is not enough fluid around their face to get a clear picture.
Citations
Mayo Clinic. Fetal development: What happens during the 2nd trimester? Mayo Clinic. Published June 3, 2020. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/pregnancy-week-by-week/in-depth/fetal-development/art-20046151
Cleveland Clinic. Ultrasound: What It Is, Purpose, Procedure & Results. Cleveland Clinic. Published April 12, 2022. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diagnostics/4995-ultrasound
Mayo Clinic. Amniocentesis. Mayoclinic.org. Published October 7, 2022. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/amniocentesis/about/pac-20392914
Iftikhar N. Signs of Dehydration in Babies: Remedies and When to Worry. Healthline. Published October 23, 2020. https://www.healthline.com/health/baby/dehydration-in-babies
FDA. Ultrasound Imaging. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Published January 12, 2024. https://www.fda.gov/radiation-emitting-products/medical-imaging/ultrasound-imaging
