Posted by
geiboyi
19 yrs ago
Remember that they will have really been hammering the poor mice with ultrasounds - same as all animal testing, the amount of drugs (or whatever) they use is always something like 500 times the normal dose. Take all such articles with a pinch of salt.
Please support our advertisers:
Hey Yankee,
Congratulations!!
I have read somewhere too that the ultrasound created from the machine has no effect to the baby. They are like the one airport used to detect metals..similar...hence, going through those detector has no effect on your baby too.
It is good to do ultrasound every month to ensure that the baby is well especially in his 24th week onwards where one can do a 4D scan to check the four chamber of the baby's heart.
I am 5months pregnant now and have so far done 4 ultrasounds.
Have fun and enjoy your pregnancy...!
Please support our advertisers:
The reason there are fewer scans in public hospitals and more with private doctors is cost!
I recall years ago there was a study about Marmite (savoury spread from the UK). The study concluded that Marmite was not healthy for babies and children because of the salt. It turned out that a child would have had to eat something like three jars of Marmite A DAY to be a risk from the salt.
Always check the methodology.
Please support our advertisers:
Expert says it should be safe if not more than one ultrasound per week. I reckon anyone does an ultrasound that frequent!
Towards the later stage (after 28 weeks) the baby's brain is pretty much developed so ultrasound should not pose much threat to the baby.
I think we are all doing fine!
Please support our advertisers:
The article says that over 30 minutes on mice have had an effect. Translate that to humans, and it would be a lot more than 30 minutes.
Each time you do an u/s, it's usually about 5 minutes? So I would think once a month is pretty safe.
Please support our advertisers:
I wouldn't worry about frequency of ultrasounds - but you could question the validity of having so many done by HK private doc. Doctors make a TON of money off of the ultrasounds, which, according to my father (ob/gyn), isn't necessary every single month. (think about it - most HK docs get ate least $800/scan - for 10 minutes of work, multiple times a day.) Generally doppler sound to confirm heartbeat is enough, but our eager parent nature wants to see instead of just hear. So doctors make a killing.
If you study the use of ultrasounds in other developed countries, you'll find that most go on the fewer side than the more often side. In Seoul I went to a private doc, who did an ultrasound each visit - paid about $1000 each time. When I shifted to the public hospital later - I had two scans in five months.
At Queen Mary, I had a total of four, and one was to confirm to see if my baby was breech in the last month. It was definitely nice seeing the ultrasounds often, but I definitely was paying a lot for it too. (okay - insurance was paying, but man, my doc made a lot of money off of my scans only.)
Please support our advertisers:
i don't think it really cost anything extra to have ultrasounds during check-ups in singapore - i had an ultrasound during every check-up, so far so good!
and it's not as if my doc did the scans for a long time. he would just take measurements and ensure that everything looks fine.
Please support our advertisers:
In most countries where there is some policy decided on scientifically sound evidence, the recommendations are that an U/s should be done ONLY when there is important medical information to be obtained and NEVER for fun. Three is the norm, one in each trimester.The most important one is at 17-19 weeks the anatomical scan, this is when congenital defects can be fixed up. The comment on the 4 chambers of the heart is very true, but you only have see it once, it the heart doesnt suddenly loose a chamber.
TRIVIA QUESTION: Where was medical Ultrasoud invented, very few Drs know this one.
The answer is Dundee and Glasgow.
Please support our advertisers:
It was used for medical reasons before Donald. The first published work was from an Austrian, although some Japanese may dispute that.
I have seen mothers who have had many ultrasounds and ended up with a false sense of security. Many conditions just don't show up on ultrasound so I do hope people don't rely on it as an indicator of a 'guaranteed' healthy baby.
Please support our advertisers:
yes, it's no 100% guarantee that you will have a healthy bub. when i did a very detailed fetal abnomaly scan at 20 (or was it 22 weeks), my bub looked generally ok but they had a big disclaimer on the report that it is only 60-70% accurate.
Please support our advertisers:
I've been able to find 'scientific' reports on line to argue both sides quite effectively.
My own obs, has advised that they are perfectly safe, as he would given that he performs one every visit! {monthly up until the last trimester, then fortnightly}
So it seems that it's like a lot of things in pregnancy and up to you to decide what level of 'risk' is acceptable to you. If you are concerned, I'm certain you could ask your obs not to do one each visit.
For what it's worth, having had a miscarriage in my first pregnancy, I have been delighted to have the chance to have them. Agreed with the others that there is 'no gaurantees' but 'peace of mind' {for me anyway} has not been based on the statistics.
Please support our advertisers:
You must be logged in to be able to reply.
Login now
Copy Link
Facebook
Gmail
Mail