Despite safety warnings from the FDA against getting ultrasounds from unregulated ultrasound centers, thousands are continuing to take advantage of this latest trend. Since the 1960s, ultrasounds have played a key role in prenatal care for millions of women and have proven when performed by licensed medical professionals to be a safe diagnostic tool. However, in the past two years dozens of unregulated ultrasound centers have opened around the United States without medical guidelines or standards.

With endearing names such as Fetal Fotos, Prenatal Peek and Womb With A View, these centers are charging about $200 a session and providing the parents with much clearer pictures, which include definite features such as chubby cheeks, hair and even muscular definition. These images are also giving the parents more than the two-dimensional scans most doctors use.

Even after the FDA closed down several of these ultrasound studios 10 years ago, a number of centers have resurfaced, prompting the FDA to take regulatory action such as sending out warning letters, injunctions, issuing fines or seizures. Doctors have expressed their concerns by citing the possibilities of things going wrong with untrained, unregulated scanners finding malformations and uninsured women relying on these centers rather than doctors. Another concern, although it hasn’t been confirmed, relates to possible future biological effects of the prenatal ultrasound.

Ultrasound is a type of energy and even at low levels studies have proven it can result in physical effects in tissue like sudden movements and an increase in temperature. For these reasons, experts said prenatal ultrasounds can’t be referred to as completely safe and some studies have shown that they may cause problems in human development such as delayed speech in children.

Statistics from the FDA showed that a total of 93 reports of problems resulted from all ultrasound machines, not just prenatal. Also, of those, 63 reported serious injury, 20 involved malfunctions with the machines and 10 could not be placed in any one category. While some doctors have shown enthusiasm for the higher definition ultrasounds, they have stated they realize they can be harmful and when used inappropriately can be very dangerous.

USA Today March 27, 2004