Ultrasound scans can affect brain development

Thanks for posting this

However, it won't make a difference.
You'll still see storefronts offering to "peek at your baby" with 4-D ultrasound, eve though that is technically illegal.

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There was a big, big study done out of Leeds Uni in the UK a few years back that I used as a basis for a paper while in nursing school that goes much more in depth with the developmental issues associated with scans...

It just blows my mind that ultra sounds are taken so lightly

I just came here to post about this. Amazing. I want to send it to all the doctors who looked at me like I was crazy for being leery of ultrasounds (ultimately I ended up having two one because I was spotting and one at 20 weeks, "just to check").

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I couldn't agree more. It seems a lot of women get ultrasounds done at their first doctor's appointment for silly reasons, such as just checking on the baby or getting a more exact due date (which they can do at their 20w one, can they not?).

You're right, it does not come as a surprise. Sometimes it's hard not to want to peak, just a quick one :

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With each trimester (or each passing week), it becomes less and less accurate to estimate due date. Anyone who starts monkeying around with an EDD at 20 weeks is parcticing pretty imprecise medicine. However, ultrasounds are done in many women who are sure of their EDD because they know exactly when they ovulated, etc. and that is ridiculous. More like a "just because" practice.

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Ultrasounds have become more popular for finding out the sex of the baby than for medical purposes. To me it didn't seem completely safe and I had no need for one during prenatals because I didn't want to know if I was having a boy or girl and everything was going great with my pregnancies.

For my first son I ended up having an emergency transport to the hospital from the midwifery for heavy bleeding. An ultrasound was needed then but my baby was full term and at that point I was more concerned of other problems than the ultrasound. Ultrasounds are useful in someways, absolutely. They can pick up on some things that could be life theatening or cause problems for a baby later on. I truly believe that ultrasounds should only be used when needed because there are too many "what ifs" and unknowns that a baby shouldn't be exposed to.

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Unfortunately, they didn't detect my daughters issues with the US at 16 weeks. I wish they had.

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That's really interesting to know. Thanks.

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Exactly. My doctor offered me an u/s to determine my due date at the first appointment (12w), but I declined it, even though I had no idea what my lmp was (I was young, and never kept track - I had a month and a half window as to when I thought my lmp was lol).

And they JUST figured this out? What other medical procedures are routinely done every day on unsuspecting people that have not been tested? Oh, that's right, almost all of them... I trust the medical industry oh, this much . (you cant see the two liitle lines they are so close together ) Thanks for the link!

(I do agree that in some cases us can pinpoint problems and save lives, but I think it is used indiscriminately and may indeed cause issues, it just irks me how doc's always proclaim things that haven't been studied to be safe, like us and vaccines and lets not forget the miscarriage medicine causing descendents to have double the risk of cancer and thalidimyde etc. etc. etc.)

While I agree that ultrasounds should not be used indiscriminately, they do have their uses. I had a quite a few in my pregnancy. The first was done because I had a prior miscarriage, basically a missed AB, stopped growing at 6 weeks, I was 9 weeks when it was discovered. I had a horrible sense of fear about the second pregnancy, and the look on my face at the OB appt was enough to frighten anyone, so she took a look and I was able to enjoy the first trimester and stop worrying because I saw that heart beat. Later I had a a level 2 ultrasound because I was at increased risk of birth defects from a health problem, and the scan was reassuring that he had no major defects, his heart was good, etc. Towards the end of my pregnancy he was breech or transverse and the ultrasounds were to figure out how he was lying (as well as NST's to check on the baby, given my diabetes), and then two when I had the external versions done. You could not feel me and figure out exactly how he was lying btw. I agree the ones you get done in stores are creepy, and definitely not for me, but for us, the ones we had done did make us feel better. We had done fertility treatments and were very invested in making sure this little guy made it to term. Now I am trying again, and I will not hesitate to ask for an early ultrasound, given that I have had two more miscarriages (one another missed AB) and I just want reassurence.