Prenatal ultrasounds not harmful

Repeated ultrasounds during pregnancy do not harm the growth and development of the unborn baby in early childhood. Ultrasound scan is a non-invasive procedure done routinely during pregnancy to assess the size, growth, health and gestational age of the fetus. Previous research suggested that several ultrasounds during pregnancy could increase right-handedness and affect the growth of the fetus.Researchers from the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Subiaco, Australia, studied the progress of about 2,700 children. Half had been exposed to repeated ultrasounds before birth. None had any congenital abnormalities. The researchers assessed the growth and development of the children up to eight years of age. At one year, both groups of children were similar in size. By the end of the study, there was no difference between the two groups in their results of standard speech, language, behaviour or neurological tests.

It was found that exposure to multiple prenatal ultrasound examinations from 18 weeks of pregnancy were associated with a small effect on the fetal growth, but their growth and development in early childhood was similar to children who received a single prenatal scan. Thus, multiple prenatal ultrasound scans are not followed by smaller body size in infancy or childhood. However, the uncertainty remains about several potential issues, one of which is handedness and further studies are needed in order to ensure the safety of this technology.

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