It is widespread that pregnant women should refuse to undergo an ultrasound examination, since it can harm the unborn child. We decided to check if this fear is confirmed by scientific data.

ABOUT doubts in safety or at least insufficiently proven harmfulness of ultrasound during pregnancy write Authors thematic sites and large Media. Critics called An ultrasound procedure with a voluntary paid mutation for the unborn child, the consequences of which will appear after 15–20 years. Some sources Checkthat potential harm can be higher at the beginning of the deadline, others indicate, that during pregnancy you should not do an ultrasound more than 12 times. The dangers of such diagnostics also write users of social networks And visitors thematic forums. And on sites with petitions at all demand Forbid ultrasound for pregnant women (spelling and punctuation are preserved): “Parents, fathers and mother, think !!! Perhaps you have already seen money for expensive operations for children. Think about the suffering of so many families! All of them are caused by direct exposure to ultrasound. ”

Ultrasound examination (ultrasound) is a non -invasive and widely accessible diagnostic method. During pregnancy, it Perform with several goals:

confirm the presence of pregnancy, determine the number of embryos and the place of attachment of the fetal egg, estimate the gestational age or identify complications such as an ectopic pregnancy at the early stage;
evaluate the development of the fetus in dynamics, clarify its heart rate and the developmental features of organs;
diagnose potential malformations of the fetus, control the state of the placenta and umbilical cord;
Clarify the development of fruits in the case of multiple pregnancy, evaluate the risk of premature birth.

According to modern WHO protocols, a woman Recommended Conduct at least one ultrasound study for up to 24 weeks. The Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation Provides As many as three such screening: for a period of 11–13, 18–21 and 30–34 weeks.

The principle of action of ultrasound is based on the emission of waves in range from 1 to 10 MHz. Waves Direct On the studied area, they pass through the skin and other soft tissues, and then are reflected from internal organs and structures, such as fruit, placenta and amniotic fluid. Depending on the density and composition, each such structure will reflect the waves differently. The ultrasonic scanner accepts the reflected waves and converts them into the image on the monitor screen.

Many authoritative medical organizations declare the safety of ultrasound for the body of a pregnant woman and fetus - National Health Service Great Britain, Centers for the control and prevention of diseases USA, Jones Hopkins University, clinics Cleveland And Mayo, American Collegium of obstetricians and gynecologists. All of them pay attention to the fact that ultrasonic waves, in contrast to diagnostics based on X -ray radiation, Do not provide radiation load on the body. Moreover, they cannot be accumulated in the body, so the UK diagnosis can be carried out quite often.

The power of the device used during the procedure is extremely small. Candidate of Medical Sciences, Gynecologist Vladimir Sursyakov Curses The following data: modern devices operate in the range from 15 to 730 MW/cm², for obstetric studies a power of 180 MW/cm² is usually used. For comparison, power smartphone - about 200 MW, and Wi-Fi points - 100 MW. These devices work in constant radiation and reception - they simultaneously receive and send waves. In contrast, the ultrasound apparatus emits waves of only 20% of the time, and 80% receives a signal. Thus, during ultrasound screening, a pregnant woman receives much less radiation than, for example, when watching video or reading posts in social networks.

You should also not be afraid of fabric heating due to the effects of the apparatus. Suppose it works at a power of 180 MW/cm, while in ideal conditions (that is, all energy is converted into heat that enters the body of a pregnant woman, and not dissipated in space). If the duration of the diagnosis is 30 minutes, then in the radiation mode the device will carry out only 6 minutes. (360 sec.). Thus, 64.8 J, or approximately 15.5 calories will go to heating the uterus, amniotic fluid and the fetus. This amount of energy is enough to heat 15.5 ml of water by 1 ° C. At the 12th week of pregnancy, only amniotic fluid It is 50 ml, and in addition to them, between the device and the fetus, the uterine shell, soft tissues and the skin of the mother’s body are also located. It turns out that the radiation power is not enough to heat the fetus even to tenths of a degree.

Some opponents of Uz-diagnostics Reference On the study of 2006, conducted on the basis of the University of Yale. The authors of this work Studied The migration of neurons in the brain of the mouse embryo under the influence of the prenatal effects of ultrasound. Scientists found that in groups where the fruits were subjected to such an effect, some of the neurons migrated from the depths to the more superficial layers of the brain. Similar processes in people, as explorers suggested, can lead to a low weight of the child at birth, delay in speech development and behavioral disorders.

Jacques Abramovich, doctor Medicine and member of the World ultrasound Federation in medicine and biology, as well as the target group of WHO according to leading principles for non -ionizing radiation, criticized This is a study. Firstly, the mice were subjected to ultrasound in a period of 16.5–19.5 days of pregnancy (all mice pregnancy lasts an average of 19 days), that is, for women it would be 36–40 weeks, when such screening usually does not conduct. Secondly, they irradiated mice with the help of not an obstetric apparatus for an ultrasound, but a device that is used in cardiology. Its power and work range are different, therefore, to transfer the results of a study on the diagnosis of a pregnant woman is not entirely correct. Finally, the mouse brain volume is much less than the volume of the human fetus at the recommended diagnostic dates. Moreover, in rodents, the brain develops for a couple of days, while in a person this process lasts the entire pregnancy and after birth. So half an hour of the influence of ultrasound on the brain of the human fetus in relation to the whole time of the development of the organ is much less than a similar effect on the brain of the mouse, and will not lead to similar consequences.

Another source Argumentation, popular among the opponents of the ultrasound, is the book “Wall Genom” (1994). Its author Peter Garyaev claims that DNA is not a sequence of nucleotides, but a certain wave, therefore, the sound waves allegedly force the genome to mutate. However, this one concept fully False And is not based on at least some facts or research. Also Garyaev Offers treat mutated cells with affirmations and supports The concept of telegonia, according to which the child receives genetic information not only from his father, but also of all previous partners of the mother (“verified” already toldWhy this theory has no reason).

At the same time, scientific data demonstrate the safety of ultrasound screening for the health of a pregnant woman and her unborn child. In 2011, the National Institute for the Study of Cancer (Great Britain) Analyzed 2690 cases of oncological diseases in children under the age of five and their connection with X -ray and ultrasound studies conducted both before birth and in the first 100 days of life. The impact of X-ray, the risk of all types of cancer, especially leukemia, was slightly increased, but no connection between prenatal screening or ultrasound in the first days of life and an increased risk of oncological diseases was found. Exploring 512 cases of malignant brain tumors among children under 15 years of age, scientists from the University of Upsalus (Sweden) also Not revealed There is no pattern between the occurrence of the disease and the passage of Uz-diagnostics, including while the children in the womb.

In 2017, specialists Summarized The results of various studies devoted to Uz-diagnostics. Having analyzed the outcomes of 35,737 clans, experts noted that the conduct of an ultrasound for up to 24 weeks did not increase the risks of perinatal mortality and low birth weight. Late screening (30–36 weeks) does not affect this, as data on another 30,675 births show.

Results populations research It is evidenced that children whose mothers did an ultrasound during pregnancy are no different from other peers in physical development, school performance and age of development of reading and writing. The only identified difference - Among them are a little more left -handed, especially among boys whose mothers were examined for a period of 19–22 weeks. It is possible to explain whether knob can influence the formation of a dominant hand, and if so, why, scientists cannot yet.

Thus, there are no scientific data that would confirm that an ultrasound examination conducted during pregnancy irradiates the fetus or affects it in another negative way. Children born after such screening are in no way inferior to peers in physical and mental development. The ultrasound effect in the prenatal period does not increase the risks of malignant tumors and leukemia. At the same time, ultrasound allows you to timely identify complications during pregnancy and thereby help both a pregnant woman and the unborn child.

Image on the cover: Image by Julio Cesar Costa The Megament from Pixabay