___________________________________________________________________________________
Here’s a link to an article with more info on ultrasound dangers from Green Health Watch:
http://www.greenhealthwatch.com/newsstories/newslatest/latest0701/ultrasound-hurt.html
These are the kinds of concerns that ultrasound professionals are now studying: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22343238
I hope my SIL who does u.s. for a living reviews this information. I discussed animal study results a few years back and she became angry and defensive and repeatedly stated that there was no evidence that ultrasound harms the fetus or mother. NK. She used to check on her own pregnancies, so can’t even count the times her babies were u.s.’d. Anecdotally, her kids are in their teens and seem to be OK. It’s reasonable to believe that risk factors differ for individuals, as in some kids may be OK, and others are predisposed to gas pockets and other disturbances.
hey gloria! as you know i love your blog. and thought that you might be interested in this little project i am doing around outlaw midwives. the link to it is here. http://guerrillamamamedicine.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/call-for-submissions-outlaw-midwives-zine/
basically a call to submissions for an outlaw midwives zine. i would love you to contribute and.or. let other women you know who would be interested in submitting about the project. peace and love.
thank you for your great website and support. I had in the 20 week scan a huge trauma to me and my baby, when the doctors saw an “anomaly” in the heart, and I was under the ultrasound scan for 7 hours during one day. It was a great learning to distrust all results that come from those studies. The doctor then found that there was an “irreversible” damage to the heart, which actually was outlived naturally. My baby is due in less than a month, and my doctor suggested one more scan, but I will not do it. I will birth at home anyways.
I will probably soon start my own blog about my experiences, it seems not to be much in this remote part of the world (Estonia – Eastern Europe), and it needs to be heard.
blessings to all mothers,
Sukhdev Lilia
When I was having my babies in the 80’s, my OB refused to do ultrasounds saying that the damage to the infant was a risk he was not willing to take.
I recently talked with a mother that had 4 3D U/S @ a whopping $165 each. Each time she said the baby was “moving like crazy.”
This is not safe!
Modern ultrasound studies find severe hazards. See http://harvoa.org/chs/pr
2,700 women, their fetal matter after abortion, were studied, with and without ultrasound and the results compared.
I always feel like risk/benefit ratio should be up to the parents. I give parents an article from Marsden Wagner and Sarah Buckley on ultrasound and let them choose. After all, if the medical model is saying a 1% risk of uterine rupture with VBACs is dangerous, are we to say that the same 1% risk (even though it’s usually half that) is fine but only when it applies to something we agree with?
I see babies move during US. does this mean they don’t move at all before the US? Or do babies ONLY get active when US is used? I think we put a lot of guilt on women in general.
When we talk about small risks, we have to be careful. There are small risks all around us. However, each of us decides what element of risk we feel comfortable with. I’m fleixible re: use of doppler and fetoscope, but if things are going on in labor, I’m more likely to ask permission to use the doppler.
What do I know, though?
In 43 years of medical practice (Imaging), I have never know or even heard of a baby being subjected to 7 hours of US. One just uses the images stored in US machine or transfers them for further study to disc. Only in high risk (twins,ect; diabetes or prior case history of pregnancy problems) did I ask for a repeat study with fewer views.
I couldn’t see what you’re referring to, Brian. Of course you’ve seen women on electronic fetal monitoring for more than 7 hours. That is exposure to ultrasound. That’s what dopplers are–ultrasound devices.
The medical community’s approach to pregnancy is that you’re NOT pregnant until the ultrasound proves that you are. It’s this culture of ‘I’ll believe it only when I see it’. The ultrasound is the only tool in the OB’s toolbox in early pregnancy, so everything in the world looks like a nail. An ultrasound that reveals a problem in later pregnancy that requires an emergency induction or c-section may be one thing, but in early pregnancy, there’s NOTHING anyone can do based on the results of an ultrasound (short of ordering a D&C), so what exactly is the point of doing them??? I’ll never understand the medical community’s obsession with ultrasounds in early pregnancy. They are at best a waste of time and money, and at worst they are causing harm to fetuses.
I have Kell alloimmunization. From what I’ve been told and from the research I’ve done, the only way to make sure that my daughter has not developed anemia is through ultrasounds. I hate it, but so far I’ve found no evidence telling me that I can just ignore the fact that my blood is full (1:128) of antibodies against my husbands and possibly my baby’s blood. Do you have any information about Kell alloimunization and wether this is one of those cases in which the US truly is the least of two evils? Thank you