There has been steady increase in the use of ultrasounds during pregnancy, which has made the procedure accepted as more or less routine.
Apart from its use as a diagnostic tool, other advantages of foetal ultrasounds have been noted. One of the exciting times for parents during the pregnancy is when they receive the first “snapshot” or even video of their child.
This practice, which is very widespread, has become a cause for debate amongst caregivers. Those in favour argue that providing parents with a picture assists in the early bonding process, which can have positive flow-on effects such as the mother taking better care of her health and becoming more motivated to give up potentially harmful habits such as smoking or drinking. It can also help some women feel more relaxed and confident about their pregnancy and even help the father, who has no physical attachment to his baby at this stage, to feel an emotional connection with his unborn child.
Others argue that bonding will occur naturally as the pregnancy proceeds and that because the long term effects of ultrasound are still essentially unknown due to lack of research, ultrasonographers should be ethically obliged to keep the exposure of unborn babies to ultrasound as low as possible, which means performing everything required for the test in the minimum period of time. The position of the baby may make obtaining a clear picture difficult, and it may take a considerable period of time to properly check all the systems in any case. Therefore some care givers may consider the provision of a photo a potentially harmful waste of time.
Thus it may be worth finding out the policy with respect to ultrasound photos at your local clinic or hospital before a scan if a picture is desired.
Apart from its use as a diagnostic tool, other advantages of foetal ultrasounds have been noted. One of the exciting times for parents during the pregnancy is when they receive the first “snapshot” or even video of their child.
This practice, which is very widespread, has become a cause for debate amongst caregivers. Those in favour argue that providing parents with a picture assists in the early bonding process, which can have positive flow-on effects such as the mother taking better care of her health and becoming more motivated to give up potentially harmful habits such as smoking or drinking. It can also help some women feel more relaxed and confident about their pregnancy and even help the father, who has no physical attachment to his baby at this stage, to feel an emotional connection with his unborn child.
Others argue that bonding will occur naturally as the pregnancy proceeds and that because the long term effects of ultrasound are still essentially unknown due to lack of research, ultrasonographers should be ethically obliged to keep the exposure of unborn babies to ultrasound as low as possible, which means performing everything required for the test in the minimum period of time. The position of the baby may make obtaining a clear picture difficult, and it may take a considerable period of time to properly check all the systems in any case. Therefore some care givers may consider the provision of a photo a potentially harmful waste of time.
Thus it may be worth finding out the policy with respect to ultrasound photos at your local clinic or hospital before a scan if a picture is desired.