Ultrasound in Prenatal Testing, A Heated Debate

**This post was originally posted on 2/28/08.**

I would like to thank Caroline Rodgers for visiting my humble blog! Caroline Rodgers is a freelancer for Midwifery Today. She has directed me to a very informative article that she wrote and researched on regarding Ultrasounds in pregnancy. You can find her article in full at this link, Questions about Prenatal Ultrasound and the Alarming increase in Autism. I must thank Ms. Rodgers once again, while I was aware that there was controversy surrounding the use of ultrasound. I never knew the extent, or details regarding the functions of an ultrasound. What was extremely surprising as well as devastating was that ultrasounds function, not only with sound, but with HEAT! This, I was completely unaware of. I've had at least one  ultrasound for every pregnancy except my last (5th) and my current one. Here's an excerpt from Ms. Rodgers' article:

"One challenge that ultrasound operators face is keeping the transducer positioned over the part of the fetus the operator is trying to visualize. When fetuses move away from the stream of high-frequency sound waves, they may be feeling vibrations, heat or both. As the FDA warned in 2004, "ultrasound is a form of energy, and even at low levels, laboratory studies have shown it can produce physical effect in tissue, such as jarring vibrations and a rise in temperature."(9) This is consistent with research conducted in 2001 in which an ultrasound transducer aimed directly at a miniature hydrophone placed in a woman's uterus recorded sound "as loud as a subway train coming into the station."(10)
A rise in temperature of fetal tissue—especially since the expectant mother cannot even feel it—might not seem alarming, but temperature increases can cause significant damage to a developing fetus's central nervous system, according to research.(11) Across mammalian species, elevated maternal or fetal body temperatures have been shown to result in birth defects in offspring.(12) An extensive review of literature on maternal hyperthermia in a range of mammals found that "central nervous system (CNS) defects appear to be the most common consequence of hyperthermia in all species, and cell death or delay in proliferation of neuroblasts [embryonic cells that develop into nerve cells] is believed to be one major explanation for these effects."(13)"

There is a connection with the use of ultrasounds and Autism. I ask every gestating momma and poppa to please research these "tests". So often we misplace our trust and faith in those who "seem" to have our and our children's best interest at heart. The ONLY person who has our babies best interest at heart is the parent(s)! Since healthcare providers are governed by policies and dictated by business ($$). Take a moment and read Caroline Rodgers article in full.