{"id":1577,"date":"2019-02-28T11:20:23","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T16:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-900540-3180849.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=1577"},"modified":"2019-02-28T11:20:23","modified_gmt":"2019-02-28T16:20:23","slug":"the-call-for-limiting-ultrasound-in-pregnancy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/the-call-for-limiting-ultrasound-in-pregnancy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Call for Limiting Ultrasounds During Pregnancy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Fetal ultrasound is a method of viewing a fetus while in the womb. Ultrasound technology uses<br \/>\nsound waves, that bounce off the baby\u2019s mass, to produce a picture of the baby. While both the<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.acog.org\/Clinical-Guidance-and-Publications\/Committee-Opinions\/Committee-on-Obstetric-Practice\/Guidelines-for-Diagnostic-Imaging-During-Pregnancy-and-Lactation?IsMobileSet=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and the Food and Drug Administration<\/a><br \/>\nboth agree that limiting fetal ultrasound is important, some doctors continue to insist on<br \/>\nfrequently looking at baby in-utero without caution.<\/p>\n<p>To avoid unnecessary viewing of your unborn baby, ask why an ultrasound is necessary.<br \/>\nOftentimes, doctors utilize certain technology simply because it\u2019s readily available without taking<br \/>\ninto account the potential risks at-hand. In the case of fetal ultrasounds, it seems that<br \/>\nobstetricians, especially those with direct-in-office-access to ultrasound technology, like to \u201ctake<br \/>\na peek\u201d at baby in-utero far more frequently than may be clinically-indicated. Some women have<br \/>\na fetal ultrasound performed at nearly each prenatal visit. Patients, trusting the doctor, don\u2019t<br \/>\nalways question why the ultrasounds are being conducted, and understandably so, enjoy being<br \/>\nable to view baby. However, if there is not a clear clinical need to have these images taken,<br \/>\nthese ultrasounds are better off being declined.<\/p>\n<p>What are the potential risks you\u2019re even avoiding if you were to decline an ultrasound? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/ForConsumers\/ConsumerUpdates\/ucm095508.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">In this<\/a><br \/>\nFDA article, Dr. Shahram Vaezy, an FDA biomedical engineer, states that,<br \/>\n\u201cUltrasound can heat tissues slightly, and in some cases, it can also produce very small bubbles<br \/>\n(cavitation) in some tissues.\u201d Dr. Vaezy also warns that, \u201c&#8230;prudent use of these devices by<br \/>\ntrained health care providers is important.\u201d Ultrasound has also been utilized recently to help<br \/>\nheal fractured bones and is also used to \u201cblast\u201d away kidney stones. Something that has the<br \/>\npotential to change the tissues of a developing fetus should be used with caution and operated<br \/>\nstrictly by a trained health professional. This means that not only should the storefront<br \/>\n\u201ckeepsake\u201d ultrasonography shops be completely avoided but frequent viewing of baby under<br \/>\nany circumstance increases risks to the fetus.<\/p>\n<p>A trained ultrasound technician should be the only person performing these scans but it\u2019s not<br \/>\njust the operator that holds significance. The length of time the ultrasound takes place is also of<br \/>\nsignificance. The longer the fetus is exposed to ultrasound, and the longer the fetal temperature<br \/>\nis altered, the higher the potential risks. The ACOG, in an October 2017 \u201cACOG Committee<br \/>\nOpinion\u201d release note specifically that, \u201cUltrasound imaging should be performed efficiently and<br \/>\nonly when clinically indicated to minimize fetal exposure risk using the keeping acoustic output<br \/>\nlevels As Low As Reasonably Achievable (commonly known as ALARA) principle.\u201d<br \/>\nWorth noting is that fetal Dopplers, often used by care providers to listen, not look, at baby in-<br \/>\nutero, also utilize ultrasonic sound waves to pick up baby\u2019s heartbeat. These monitors carry a similar risk to visual ultrasound and also carry warnings as to be used only by healthcare<br \/>\nprofessionals. By purchasing this type of monitor, many mothers feel reassured by being able to<br \/>\nlisten to baby\u2019s heartbeat at any given time. However, Doppler monitors have not been<br \/>\ndesigned for at-home use.<\/p>\n<p>The decision for frequency of ultrasound exposure during pregnancy remains with the patient.<br \/>\nWith information regarding both risks and benefits of this medical intervention, one can make an<br \/>\ninformed choice as to how she wishes to proceed when ultrasound is recommended by her care<br \/>\nprovider. It is always important to have an open dialogue with your provider regarding any<br \/>\nconcerns about recommended procedures. Only when the patient is comfortable and in<br \/>\nagreement, should a non-emergent procedure take place. As a patient, you have the right to<br \/>\ndecline any or all ultrasounds recommended by your care provider. You also have the right to<br \/>\nquestion what the provider is hoping to find through the recommended imaging and how the<br \/>\nimaging itself would affect future medical recommendations.<\/p>\n<p>While ultrasound is widely accepted in the medical community as being safe and carrying little<br \/>\nto no risk, it is still wise to proceed with caution. Let us not forget that several decades ago, X-<br \/>\nrays were used readily for a host of reasons, including fetal imaging and were considered \u201csafe.\u201d<br \/>\nOf course, now more is known and there is great caution with X-ray use. This is a good lesson<br \/>\nin why, for a healthy pregnancy, less medical intervention is often the best choice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fetal ultrasound is a method of viewing a fetus while in the womb. Ultrasound technology uses sound waves, that bounce off the baby\u2019s mass, to produce a picture of the baby. While both the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and the Food and Drug Administration both agree that limiting fetal ultrasound is important,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1579,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Limiting Ultrasounds During Pregnancy | The Nurturing Root","_seopress_titles_desc":"Viewing a baby on the ultrasound monitor sure is fun, but when does ultrasound technology have a place in pregnancy and does it do more harm than good?","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,124,125,129,40,7],"tags":[148],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":15,"label":"birth"},{"value":124,"label":"Childbirth classes"},{"value":125,"label":"childbirth education"},{"value":129,"label":"Doula"},{"value":40,"label":"health"},{"value":7,"label":"pregnancy"}],"post_tag":[{"value":148,"label":"ultrasound"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"Carmen Calvo","author_link":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/author\/carmen_admin\/"},"comment_info":"","category_info":[{"term_id":15,"name":"birth","slug":"birth","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":27,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":15,"category_count":27,"category_description":"","cat_name":"birth","category_nicename":"birth","category_parent":0},{"term_id":124,"name":"Childbirth classes","slug":"childbirth-classes","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":124,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":28,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":124,"category_count":28,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Childbirth classes","category_nicename":"childbirth-classes","category_parent":0},{"term_id":125,"name":"childbirth education","slug":"childbirth-education","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":125,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":20,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":125,"category_count":20,"category_description":"","cat_name":"childbirth education","category_nicename":"childbirth-education","category_parent":0},{"term_id":129,"name":"Doula","slug":"doula","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":129,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":32,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":129,"category_count":32,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Doula","category_nicename":"doula","category_parent":0},{"term_id":40,"name":"health","slug":"health","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":40,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":19,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":40,"category_count":19,"category_description":"","cat_name":"health","category_nicename":"health","category_parent":0},{"term_id":7,"name":"pregnancy","slug":"pregnancy","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":7,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":18,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":7,"category_count":18,"category_description":"","cat_name":"pregnancy","category_nicename":"pregnancy","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":148,"name":"ultrasound","slug":"ultrasound","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":148,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1577"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}