So you are pregnant. Most likely you have tons of questions and you want to know everything that is going on at every moment. Curiosity is a huge part of the process. Medical science has us the ability to see and hear what we have going on inside. But just because we can glimpse inside does not necessarily mean we should. I have gathered some information that I wish would’ve been gathered for me when I was searching for information about prenatal testing. More specifically, the use and overuse of ultrasound.
“The technology of prenatal diagnosis is usually presented to us as a solution, but it brings with it problems of its own…the technology of prenatal diagnosis has changed and continues to change women’s experience of pregnancy.”
—Barbara Katz Rothman, The Tentative Pregnancy
Although ultrasounds have never been proven conclusively to be harmful, neither have they been proven to be harmless. They are simply a useful tool under some circumstances in pregnancy, but should not be abused through overuse since we have no proof of their lack of harm, nor of benefit to their routine use. At this time ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) and a National Institute of Health consensus development conference recommend ultrasound only for a specific medical indication; they do not recommend the routine use of ultrasound screening during pregnancy. Unfortunately, most doctors ignore this recommendation. –Prenatal Testing: Ultrasound Safety and Accuracy by Kmom
Websites urging caution about routine ultrasound use:
www.aimsusa.org/ultrasnd.htm – general information about concerns
www.alternamoms.com/ultrasound.html– general information about concerns
www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/ultrasoundwagner.asp – article by an MD about ultrasound concerns
www.compleatmother.com/ultrasound_danger.htm – more concerns about ultrasound problems