link to an article
This may help in exploring your decision. Everyone is different, every pregnancy is unique. I just feel that it is important to make sure you're informed so you have no regrets. I wish I would have been accurately informed prior to that one I got back in 2005. Thanks for bringing up this important topic!
From Technology in Birth: First Do No Harm - by Marsden Wagner, an article on the Midwifery Today web site.
http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articl...ogyinbirth.asp
Questions to Ask Before a Routine Prenatal Untrasound
It is likely that a routine ultrasound scan will be suggested fairly early in your pregnancy. This presents a perfect opportunity to ask a few questions: "What is the chance the scan will make things worse? Is such a scan safe?" If the answer is a flat "Yes, ultrasound scanning during pregnancy is safe," alarm bells should start going off in your head, because you are not getting the full information. You must then ask, "Show me the data on the safety of prenatal ultrasound," in order to check on what you may be told about the data on the safety of prenatal ultrasound. As a scientist I can assure you that the only correct answer to your question is, "We don't know because there is not sufficient scientific data to prove the safety of prenatal ultrasound." Some research has shown the possibility that ultrasound can cause slowed growth of the fetus while still in the uterus. Other research has shown the possibility that some children who have been scanned while still in the uterus may later have mild neurological deficits. We need more study of both these possibilities. But from a scientific viewpoint, it is impossible to say today that ultrasound scanning during pregnancy is perfectly safe.
The next question to ask when ultrasound scanning is proposed to you is, "What is the chance that a scan will make things better?" When you are told that one reason for the scan is to look for defects in the fetus, ask: "What is the chance a defect will be correctly identified (true positive screening test) and what is the chance a defect will be incorrectly identified (false positive screening test)?" If your provider cannot, or will not, answer this question, watch out!
Your next question when ultrasound is suggested should be, "Is there a better chance my baby will survive the pregnancy and birth if an ultrasound scan is done, and what are the data?" The correct answer is that a large study in the United States of more than 15,000 regnant women showed no improvement in the mortality rate of the babies if ultrasound is routinely used during pregnancy.
: Good Info SoPac
With my old ob they wouldn't see you until after 8 weeks and they did a routine ultrasound to "date " hte pregnancy. Just another reason I am happily going with a midwife this time.
