The Routine 36-Week Scan-Is It Time for a Change in Policy and Practice? The Arguments for a Routine Third Trimester Ultrasound in Australian Healthcare.

Hamish Buntain, Sailesh Kumar, Cristiane De Freitas Paganoti, Olivia Holland, David Ellwood, Fabricio Da Silva Costa

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in The Australian & New Zealand journal of obstetrics & gynaecology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Hamish BuntainSchool of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University, Gold Coast University Hospital, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5265-2022

Sailesh KumarNHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Stillbirth, Mater Research Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Cristiane De Freitas PaganotiMaternal Fetal Medicine Unit, Gold Coast University Hospital, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

Olivia HollandWomen-Newborn-Children-Services, Gold Coast University Hospital, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

David EllwoodSchool of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University, Gold Coast University Hospital, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

Fabricio Da Silva CostaSchool of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University, Gold Coast University Hospital, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The increasing use of third trimester ultrasound within Australia's hybrid maternity care model reflects growing recognition of its value-even among publicly funded pregnant women. Emerging evidence suggests benefits such as improved detection of fetal growth abnormalities, malpresentation and structural anomalies. Whilst concerns remain about cost-effectiveness and provoking unnecessary interventions, these must be weighed against potentially improved perinatal outcomes. With evolving research, the role of a routine 36-week ultrasound in low-risk Australian pregnancies warrants reconsideration.

Indexed as

Health PolicyPregnancy Trimester, ThirdUltrasonography, PrenatalAustraliaCost-Benefit AnalysisFemaleHumansPregnancylarge for gestational age infantprenatal diagnosisprenatal ultrasonographysmall for gestational age infantthird pregnancy trimester

Identifiers

PMID41891330

DOI10.1111/ajo.70096

PMCPMC13391016

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.