The Netherlands' Health Council (Gezondheidsraad) has recommended that the government not introduce 13-week pregnancy ultrasound scans as a standard part of prenatal care, concluding that the drawbacks currently outweigh the benefits. A trial programme running since 2021 found that the scans produced a significant number of false positives — prompting unnecessary referrals for follow-up tests — while also missing a relatively high proportion of foetal abnormalities. The council did not rule out a future role for the scan, however, urging the health minister to explore how it could be better integrated with other prenatal screening tools, such as the NIPT blood test and the standard 20-week scan, to improve diagnostic accuracy.