Netherlands prenatal ultrasound policy changes

The Health Council of the Netherlands advised against the structural introduction of 13-week prenatal ultrasounds after an investigation found that the benefits of early screening did not outweigh the disadvantages. Research involving nearly 130,000 ultrasounds conducted between 2021 and 2022 identified 775 false positives and over 1,100 missed abnormalities. Vice Chair Selma Tromp noted that at least 150 missed cases should have been identified by a 13-week scan.

Following this recommendation, the Dutch government announced that the 13-week ultrasound will no longer be structurally offered starting January 1, 2028. Health Minister Sophie Hermans stated the decision was made to avoid exposing pregnant women to undue anxiety caused by the reliability issues observed during the initial scientific study.

While the screening was introduced in late 2021 as an optional medical check, officials determined that the tests were often unreliable at that stage of fetal development. In its first year, the screening caused significant unnecessary panic for hundreds of women due to false positives, while failing to detect over a thousand actual abnormalities because the fetus was too small for accurate imaging.

Pregnant women in the Netherlands will return to the standard 20-week ultrasound. The Ministry of Health plans to review the broader prenatal screening system, including NIPT blood tests, and may reconsider the 13-week ultrasound if new scientific evidence becomes available.