[Ultrasonography of pregnant women in Denmark 1994-1995--description of its development since 1989-1990].

During a two-week period in May 1995 all delivery departments in Denmark (n = 49) participated in a study with the purpose of describing number, type, time and place for all obstetric ultrasound examinations (OUL) that the women who delivered in the period had during their pregnancies. Further, the purpose was to compare the results with a similar study performed in 1990. The material consisted of 2,315 women; approximately 3.4% of all deliveries in Denmark in 1995. Of all OUL, 96% took place in hospitals. Seven percent of the women had no OUL during their pregnancies (1990: 20.3%). The mean number of OUL was 1.9 for all women and 2.1 for women who had at least one ultrasound examination. In total, 53.9% of the women were offered a screening examination (1990: 40.3%). Women with an offer of screening had a mean number of 1.96 OUL during pregnancy in contrast to 1.88 OUL for women without a screening offer (t-test, non-significant). In the subgroup of women from OB/GYN departments, women with an offer of one screening examination had a mean number of 1.94 OUL during pregnancy in contrast to 1.98 OUL for women without an offer (t-test, non-significant). In conclusion, the study has shown that in comparison with the study performed in 1990, an increasing number of women are given an offer of ultrasound screening and that there in general has been an increase in use of ultrasound examinations in obstetrics during the five-year period.