Too many ultrasounds harmful to the baby

akabillups

My husband is set on the fact that too many ultrasounds will cause defects in our baby. I have only had 1 ultrasound at about 16 weeks. I have done some research where they say that having too many ultrasounds can cause tissue damange on the baby.

I really want to know what the sex is of the baby and to make sure everything is going on okay in there. Is there anybody out there who has heard anything similar??

 

moviesprincess

There has never been any evidence that has proven that too many ultrasounds are harmful to the baby. I have had 9 so far.

christiney06

I had over 10 my last pregnancy, high risk.  tell YH not to worry, my kid is cute even w/ his 2 heads

dadonet

I think it depends. I have to have one every 2 weeks and they last a few hours each time. My baby has also already had an MRI. I'm sure your baby will be just fine if you have one or two more. Try not to worry:)

PearlPink

I've had 5 ultrasounds already and will have a 6th on Tuesday and a 7th in a couple weeks. (only one was elective) The doctors seem to think there is nothing to worry about. I think its kind of an "old school" way of thinking that to many ultrasounds is going to harm your baby. I could see him worrying if you were doing 10+ but honestly if you have only had 1 I doubt that 1 or a few more is going to do any damage.

forensicmama

I honestly do not think that two ultrasounds is harmful to the baby. There are women with high risk pregnancies who have many, many ultrasounds and have healthy babies.

Most women in the USA have at least two standard ultrasounds: one dating ultrasound and one anatomy scan at twenty weeks. The medical community doesn't seem to be very worried about just two ultrasounds.

HappyAardvark

So your husband is a doctor?

akabillups

HappyAardvark:

So your husband is a doctor?

 He is a doctor of chiropractic. He has had 4 years of medical school and had to intern in hospitals, he even had to do ultrasounds on women and deliver babies. I trust his opinion 100% but sometimes I want him to be more of a husband than a "doctor".

triple_sevens

My doctors are leaders in the field of sonographic diagnostics. They told me that there is absolutely not one shred of evidence that ultrasounds are harmful to the developing fetuses of any mammalian species, including humans.

butterflynola

Ultrasounds are not harmful at all.  It is nothing like an x-ray which some people may confuse it with.  The u/s is done through sound and water not at all damaging if it was don't you think that the u/s techs would be at a serious risk doing them all the time without any protective equipment?  I wouldn't be worried just do more research.

skruhmin

Yep I've heard that from my chiropractor too.  He said that's why babies are so squirmy when you get ultrasounds done.  Since they use soundwaves, it can be too much for the baby to handle, which can cause hearing loss.  By the end of this pregnancy I'm going to have had 4 ultrasounds and each time I see my baby's hands by his ears and him squirming, it makes me think of what my chiro said, even though the medical community said it's not harmful.  

ababymaybe

I have heard this before and don't buy it. U/S has been used *widely* for a long time. If it caused problems, it would've become apparent a long time ago. I mean, there are experts who devote their entire career to studing the use of ultrasound-- no offense, but I'll trust them and the general medical community over one person whose specialization isn't even in that area. 

And frankly, some chiropractors have "interesting" ideas that don't necessarily have a lot of empirical support.

shellshavintwins

With my twins I had an ultrasound every single visit, and at one point had three in the same week!!!! (Baby b was breech the week before delivery so they kept checking before c-section was performed).Neither of my babies had tissue damage, or developmental delays.

UltrasoundTechMommy

skruhmin:

Yep I've heard that from my chiropractor too.  He said that's why babies are so squirmy when you get ultrasounds done.  Since they use soundwaves, it can be too much for the baby to handle, which can cause hearing loss.  By the end of this pregnancy I'm going to have had 4 ultrasounds and each time I see my baby's hands by his ears and him squirming, it makes me think of what my chiro said, even though the medical community said it's not harmful.  

 LOL your chiropractor is stupid. Babies are squirmy even when the ultrasound isn't on them. It does not cause hearing loss. I'm an ultrasound tech who has been to a lot of school and a lot of seminars. I scan my baby at least once a week, sometimes more.

PearlPink

If it were a hearing issue my child must be deaf, she is not bothered by ultrasounds at all, infact we tried everything we could to get her to move during the anatomy scan and that girl was NOT budging. She was sleeping!  In the womb babies squirm and wiggle. I think OP's husband is being a bit paranoid.  I understand he has some medical background but I agree with others, I'm going to trust my OB, the specialist I went to and the multitude of medical professionals who thinks its perfectly safe when done by a trained and educated professional.

weddingbells2010

I have had at least 8 already- in the first few weeks they thought it might be ectopic and couldn't tell yet, so I was getting rescanned every week.  When I switched doctors, this new office has an u/s machine in every room and even if you're not due for a scan, the dr or nurses will do a quick one just to 'check in' and give you a quick look (which i love!).  I am only halfway through the pregnancy!

I imagine the doctors would not do so many if there were real facts saying it was unsafe. 

MamaCat21

I had an US at 8 weeks, 12 weeks, and 15 weeks. I may or may not be having one on Wednesday, if not, I will probably have one not this week, but the next.

I think if it was harmful the doctors wouldn't do it.

I have a rather high risk pregnancy, so they will be checking on my girls every 1-2 weeks as I progress.