Ultrasound scans 'safe'

2004-12-02 13:00

Paris - Repeated ultrasound examinations during pregnancy do not pose a risk to the baby's health, according to a study published on Saturday in the British medical weekly The Lancet.

Australian researchers carried out follow-up tests among 2 700 children who took part in a trial 10 years ago.

Half of the children had been exposed to repeated scans during their mother's pregnancy while the other half had had only one scan, shortly before birth.

The children were checked at the ages of one, two, three, five and eight, with assessments for their height and weight, speech, behaviour and neurological development.

Frequent-scan babies may have slower growth in the uterus, but after birth they catch up, the researchers say.

There is no significant difference in physical size or cognitive skills between them and infants who received only one scan, they say.

The study is lead-authored by John Newnham, a professor at the School of Women's and Infants' Health at King Edward Memorial Hospital, Subiaco, in Western Australia.

- AFP