Nov 6

“…I Have No Idea What That Means.”

“Hmm, I have no idea what that means.” – OB while reading an ultrasound report that stated the baby’s head circumference was listed as “out of range.”

37 people dislike these words.

There are 11 comments to this post.

Sarah had this to say, Nov 6, 2011 @ 2:41 pm (Quote)

Yeah right! Ok next time you want a moment to figure out what it means say: I need a moment to read the report. Or better yet read the report befire going into the room to talk to the woman sitting there.

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Kristin had this to say, Nov 6, 2011 @ 3:28 pm (Quote)

Okay…

I am not a doctor, but a head being out of range could mean something like, the head is disproportional to the body (WAY too big or too small), which could in turn mean a congenital defect, possibly serious or even fatal.

Or it could mean the U/S tech mis-measured the little one’s head.

Either way, your lack of knowledge is truly frightening. Excuse me while I go find a doctor that knows more about what they are doing…

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Rachel G had this to say, Nov 6, 2011 @ 3:36 pm (Quote)

I would have to know more about this one to “dislike” it. Admitting he didn’t know is encouraging. He could have just assumed it meant the babies head is huge and started suggesting scheduled c-section.

OP, is there more to this story?

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Jessers Reply:
November 7th, 2011 at 3:34 am Jessers(Quote)

This is my line of thought as well. If the doctor actually felt like he needed a number before jumping to conclusions, that would have been real nice.

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BeckyJ had this to say, Nov 6, 2011 @ 4:11 pm (Quote)

I gotta give the OB props for admitting he didn’t know what the ultrasound tech meant by “out of range”. Usually they are so full of themselves, giving the illusion that they know everything. Until I see a pink link, I’m gonna assume that it wasn’t too bad.

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Heidi had this to say, Nov 6, 2011 @ 5:15 pm (Quote)

It seems like there are two possible meanings here. One is, “I don’t know what out of range means.” That *does* seem pretty ignorant for a doctor.

The other is, “I have no idea what that means for the baby,” which is understandable because it could mean a lot of different things, and the doctor doesn’t want to jump to conclusions.

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lilmrsmchenry had this to say, Nov 6, 2011 @ 5:28 pm (Quote)

I see it as either the head size was not what they expected OR it could be that the tech could not get a good measurement because of movement, position, etc.

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Ashley had this to say, Nov 6, 2011 @ 7:02 pm (Quote)

A case of you have to hear it in context. It sounds like what the u/s tech wrote down was too vague, not enough information for the doc to interpret.

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Kaytee had this to say, Nov 7, 2011 @ 7:52 am (Quote)

Ashley – that’s what I was thinking – it’s more of an indictment on what the technique; not that the doctor wouldn’t have known what a high value would mean.

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Jennifer had this to say, Nov 7, 2011 @ 11:29 am (Quote)

It actually means that the tech was unable to get an accurate measurement of the head, usually because it is low in mom’s pelvis (hence out of range of the probe to measure it). Either way, don’t say “I have no idea what that means,” say “I need to ask the ultrasonagrapher what he/she meant by this” or “Let me look into this and find out what exactly it means for you.”

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