Ultrasound Scan & Its Effect on Babies

An ultrasound during pregnancy is used to monitor the health and development of the baby. Besides that, several other reasons like medical complications, the baby’s gestational age, checking the placenta location, and detecting issues in the baby's organs.

During the ultrasound, your doctor puts gel on your abdomen, places a transducer on your skin, and moves gently around. Through this transducer, pulses of sound waves pass to the baby in the uterus (womb), and then sound waves create echoes that reflect back to the ultrasound machine.

These soundwave echoes are then converted into images by the monitor. The whole procedure is non-invasive; however, it has some effects on babies. In this blog, let’s discuss the side effects of ultrasound scans on babies.

Side Effects of Ultrasound on Babies

While ultrasound is one of the safest pregnancy tests for both the baby and the mother, some studies highlight some of the potential risks associated with ultrasound during pregnancy. Let’s explore them:

• Thermal Effects: Prolonged exposure to prenatal ultrasound (high-intensity waves) may increase the fetal temperature. However, the primary reason for this elevation remains uncertain, and concern has been raised about its side effects on the baby's development.

• Cavitation Effects: The high-intensity ultrasound waves may cause microbubbles within fetal tissues, a phenomenon called cavitation. The impact of this effect isn’t fully understood, but it may affect cellular structure and the baby's development.

• Biological Effects: Several studies claim that prolonged ultrasound exposure may show biological effects. It may affect the cellular level, cell division, gene expression, and neuronal migration in the developing baby.

Research suggests that repeated ultrasounds may have minor effects on fetal growth. Also, there is no long-term impact on childhood development.

Wrapping Up

Consequently, an ultrasound during pregnancy can be both thrilling and frightening. This pregnancy test is used to get a clear picture of how your baby is growing and developing. However, prolonged exposure to ultrasound waves may result in several effects, like thermal, cavitation, and biological. Therefore, healthcare providers and expectant parents should have a healthy discussion before using an ultrasound to ensure the safety of the baby and the mother.

Research is still underway to understand the effect of ultrasound on babies; therefore, you should follow the basic pregnancy to-do list, including a balanced diet, regular exercise, and avoiding alcohol and smoking. Besides them, if you want to make your child's future secure, look for cord blood banking at Cryoviva, India’s best banking service provider. We provide both stem cell and blood banking services, helping you to preserve life-saving stem cells to secure your baby and the entire family’s future.