Ultrasounds, why or why not?

[sewaneecook]

I've read lots on benefits and downsides to ultrasounds, but I wanted personal stories about why you did or did not get them.

Thanks in advance for sharing!

[desireeb]

Personally, I feel that there is a reason why we don't have a window in our bellies during pregnancy. If we were supposed to see what's going on in there, we would.
From friends' experience who have had ultrasounds, it seems to just add a lot of stress. For example, they had an US, the doctor thought that there was a problem, they did a bunch of tests and found out that actually there isn't a problem. But for the three weeks that all of this went on, my friend was completely stressed out, so she went in a couple of times because she couldn't feel the baby moving enough!
Ultrasounds, especially a lot of them throughout pregnancy, are a fairly new thing. I feel like the impact on our children hasn't been fully realized. I've also heard a connection between lots of ultrasounds and ear infections in early childhood.

[1stTimeMummytoLore]

i could tell you many stories of my doula clients who ran into unecessary issues as a result of ultrasounds. here are some brief examples:

the late third trimester ultrasound that identifies a "big baby", OB pressures client into unecessary induction to prevent baby from getting any bigger and requiring a c-section-- baby is born by failure to progress c-section because mom's body wasn't ready to birth. baby was 6lbs. 11oz. and covered in vernix.

another late US determined mom had "low fluid volume" but they never gave her a specific measurement. nurse-midwife scared her into inducing also. mom has a 22 hour labor, water broke around 9 hours and quite literally poured out of her for the next 13 hours- when the second midwife came on call, she joked and said to the mom- gee you have a ton of fuild for someone with low fluid volume! baby ended up in distress and was birthed with forceps.

i don't share these stories to scare people. there are times when an ultrasound is totally appropriate- if the care provider suspects placenta previa or multiple babies or if a VBAC mom wants to see if her placenta is covering her scar site or any other medically indicated reason. but i firmly believe that "routine" ultrasounds resutl in unnecessary tests and interventions a majority of the time.

kate

[Girl Named Sandoz]

Here's an article I wrote on the topic:

Prenatal Testing: Making an Informed Choice

[I'm A CocoNut]

For my pregnancy...

I chose not to have an ultrasound. I was low risk, healthy and had similar ideas to the poster who referenced the lack of windows into our bellies. I wanted to have a "no intervention unless actually/absolutely necessary" pregnancy and birth. I considered ultrasound an intervention. I had read enough about the potential dangers of ultrasounds that I decided I didn't want one unless someone could prove to me that I *really* needed one. And to continue, with hopefully not more info than you'd like before I signed up with my homebirthing midwives, I used an OB practice and when I showed up for my appointment in which they had scheduled my ultrasound and I promptly and politely said "no thanks" ...the *midwife* in that practice lectured and bullied me for the next 1 1/2 hours about how neglectful I was being blah blah blah She kept throwing things at me (words!) that I had to respond to, and when I countered with questions of my own and info (facts!) that I had read, she just laughed at me and moved on. She eventually came back with this letter that she went away to type up stating that I had refused this procedure and that if there were any consequences to my actions I was responsible not her blah blah bleck!....I was humiliated and became seriously PO'd!!! I was shaking like a leaf in the wind by the time I left the office. And I never went back.

Well, just my 2 cents...good luck with your own decision. May you have the courage to make whatever decision is best for you.

Warmly,
Jennifer

[paisley]

eternal_grace - thanks for the great article! Our sons have the same name too.

[sewaneecook]

Thanks for all the GREAT replies. Most of the people I know (both online and IRL) who have had ultrasounds seem to get more worked up over them and worried with the results than if they never had them. I wanted to know other's experiences which is why I posted this question. Thanks for the very open and honest answers.

[earthmama369]

Visiting.

I had a U/S with my dd because we had NO idea when she was conceived, due to my very irregular cycle and a negative pregnancy test that should have been positive. (I went in for my first checkup after getting a positive test thinking I was 3 weeks or so in, the D.O. felt my uterus and said I felt more like 8 weeks along . . . imagine our surprise when the U/S technician said I was actually nearly 11 weeks!) That one was exciting and not stressful at all.

I was in a minor car accident at 34 weeks that sent me into regular contractions every 3 minutes, and ended up getting 3 more U/S's while in the hospital (everything turned out ok and she stayed in another 4.5 weeks). Those were stressful. They took longer, I was stressed and worried sick already, and starting to worry about the possible effects of having that many U/S's.

I will say that so far there seem to have been no ill effects from having 4 U/S's. Q's never had an ear infection, has only been mildly sick twice, both times after dh and I had the cold of death, and is showing no signs of allergies -- all the things I've heard might possibly be linked to U/S's. That said, we're hoping to never have to have that many again!

[PancakeGoddess]

We had one with our 2nd because dp and I strongly disagreed about circumcision, and we were hoping we could avoid a divorce by finding out it was a girl! (no dice.... boys only in this house, but dp came around, goodie that he is)

[lotus.blossom]

A friend of mine had an ultrasound where they thought there was a problem with the heart and so she had to wait and worry for weeks till the second u/s come to find out the muscle was just a bit thicker in that spot and everything was fine!

On the flip side, my cousin didn't have any ultrasounds and when it came time for her homebirth the midwives didn't know that the baby was breech and she labored for a while and ended up in an ambulance with an emergency c-section!

I plan to have at least one to find out the sex! And we'll see about any others. I'm pretty anxious about this pregnancy so I'll probably want to see the baby at least once!

[beautyful]

My 2nd ultrasound (the day before I went into labour) led to the doctor constantly reminding me how large my daughter was going to be. That was part of the reasoning he used that ultimately led to my Cesarean, so I am going to avoid them in the future for "fluid level" checks.

I am planning to deliver this one via homebirth VBAC, so I definitely want an u/s to check the location of the placenta. (And to sneak a peek at the sex if we can! )

[luckymama]

i like my early ultrasounds ... especially the checking to make sure everything is in the right place and stuff - it gives me peace of mind during the time before the baby starts moving. with my son, i found the later ultrasounds to provide nothing but worry ... my (former) OB insisted that my fluid was low and that the baby was going to be huge and other such things that put me into a panic. well, no problems with fluid, baby estimated to be over 8.5 lbs at 32 weeks was born at 40w3d weighing 6 lbs 9 ozs ... and perfect. so i'll most likely skip any suggested later ultrasounds unless i don't feel movement. anyway, that's my feeling based on my experience. i know people have handed my articles and info about the danger of u/s to my child's fertility and such, and i intend to research that further asap, but as of now, i don't feel like i'm u/s'ing excessively, and i'm not convinced of the risk. i reserve the right to change my mind, tho!

[midwestmom]

This isn't something I get particularly worked up about. I had one early on with Lily b/c I hadn't had a period between pregnancies and had no idea when I was due. I had some late in preg with Joshua b/c I was reallllllly sick and we wanted to check on baby. I say if you have a dang good reason, then get one if you are comfortable with it, but don't do it just for fun. I don't buy their sizing estimates...they are sooooo off many times-always saying baby is bigger than it is, it seems.

[addax]

One good reason to have at least ONE ultrasound with a high res machine and a well-trained technician, especially if you refuse all other prenatal testing, is to check whether your baby has a life-threatening birth defect that will necessitate a crisis birth. While it probably won't happen to you, it could. It happened to me, and that's why my son was born in a high-tech OR with about 14 people present. And he survived and is now thriving. If he had been born at home, or even if he had been born more than five years (let alone a generation) ago, he would not have survived. I wouldn't trade my son for anything so I am glad I had an ultrasound at 18 weeks, even though it led to 22 weeks and five days of pure hell (and a birth far from the birth I would have liked to have).

The birth defect my son had is called a congenital diaphragmatic hernia. A child with spina bifida, or a child with gastroschisis, or a child with a major heart defect, just to mention a few, also needs a closely monitored birth. The risk than any child at random will have one of these life-threatening conditions is low, but it is a risk to weigh.

[Girl Named Sandoz]

Originally Posted by paisley

eternal_grace - thanks for the great article! Our sons have the same name too.

Ooh, good name choice. And thanks!