Baby + Child, Pregnancy + Birth

A Deeper Look at Prenatal Ultrasounds

It’s easy to take prenatal ultrasounds for granted. They are such a deeply ingrained part of birth culture in Western medicine, that most women don’t even think twice about going in for several scans during the course of a pregnancy.

While routine ultrasounds are now considered a part of standard prenatal care in most developed countries, this technology is not as helpful, or benign as we have been led to believe. In her article, “Ultrasound Scans — Cause for Concern,” Dr. Sarah Buckley states, “Although ultrasound may sometimes be useful when specific problems are suspected, my conclusion is that it is at best ineffective and at worse dangerous when used as a ‘screening tool’ for every pregnant woman and her baby,” (2005).

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