Too many ultrasounds unsafe?

Not unsafe at all. Ultrasounds aren't radiation like x-rays. They are merely sound waves. Ultrasounds are probably the safest kind of scans in existence today.

I disagree with people saying that reassurance scans are bad for your mental health- maybe for some people, but I think only you can know that for yourself. I am 18 weeks following a miscarriage, had an early reassurance scan to check for a heartbeat, nhs 12 week scan and have just had an additional reassurance scan because I’ve not felt baby move yet, and felt my first before now so was concerned. All significantly reduced my anxiety and helped my mental health. I will have nhs scan at 20 weeks and suspect after that I will feel less anxious as will be able to monitor movements, however if I feel worried and a further scan will help that, then I don’t see any problem at all. Pregnancy is a worrying time and you don’t need people criticizing you for doing something that can be really helpful.

I had to have fortnightly scans (complex pregnancy).

To be honest - its not reassuring the way you think it could be! It just gives you more to worry & obsess over. Measurements etc have a degree of inaccuracy that means the changes are more meaningfully reviewed with longer gaps.

I wouldn't recommend unless your doctor or midwife thinks its needed for medical reasons.

But I should say I am no expert.

The number OP is describing does seem to be fine though. I have never heard of a baby having been hurt by too many scans and for reasons I won't go into I am aware of the many things that can cause harm during pregnancy.

I remember asking my obstetrician this and he said we scan our wives all the time and we have never had a problem (this was in America).

It's fine. In high risk pregnancies people have scans fortnightly or more

Because in high risk pregnancies, the benefits outweigh any risks. The advice is to keep scans to a minimum unless clinically needed. I had a very high risk pregnancy and was worried about having to have so many scans. I was under a top OB and what I’ve said above are her words. I certainly wouldn’t have had them if I didn’t need them.

It's fine. In high risk pregnancies people have scans fortnightly or more.

I had 11 scans in my high risk pregnancy and my baby boy is here and perfectly healthy

You must have more money than sense to keep paying for private scans!

Maybe put the money towards a therapist that can help with your anxiety.

I think the important thing here is why you feel the need to keep having scans. I assume it’s driven by anxiety (I’m sorry if it’s not, but just can’t think of another reason) Do you have someone to talk to in real life? have you spoken to your gp? A counsellor? It’s worth nipping this in the bud now, because anxiety will get a whole lot worse after the baby arrives.

They are not safe if anxiety driven, and the safe bit is referring to you rather than the baby.

There’s a correlation between number of scans and lefthandedness, apparently. There are several studies.

https://journals.lww.com/epidem/fulltext/2002/05000/first_trimester_ultrasound_scans_and.22.aspx

Would suggest it can impact on brain development.

(I’m a leftie, and no shade thrown on lefties at all.)

A more recent study on therapeutic ultrasound showed no difference in recovery between the 3mz ultrasound and a placebo with no ultrasound. No evidence that it actually does anything to help injuries or pain.

I had tons due to ivf pregnancy anxiety and also worried about this. He was born 10lbs and absolutely fine!

I had cervical length scans every 2 weeks from 14 weeks, and they checked the baby briefly each time (the first few times offering to be nice, then for growth scans). Baby was absolutely fine. I questioned safety and they said there's no side effects. They use them directly on premature babies heads and stomachs too once born.

No they’re not unsafe but 4 scans by 18 weeks is a lot if there’s no medical reason. Maybe you need to think about ways to reduce your anxiety levels so you don’t feel like you need so many scans. Not trying to be mean because I know pregnancy is an anxious time, I’ve been there, but you’ve got a long time to go yet and you won’t be doing yourself any good being so anxious. You will be having regular check with your midwife from 20 weeks where they will monitor growth and the baby’s heartbeat. Try not to book any more private scans for the sake of your mental health

It is safe (I had 25, medical reasons, but I looked into the safety aspect quite a bit!) but as someone else said, it takes a toll on your mental health. For your own sake I wouldn’t book too many private ones!

There’s some theoretical risks around cavitation and tissue heating but no evidence has been found that ultrasound at the levels used in fetal scanning is harmful.

The ultrasound used for deep tissue therapy is a different frequency/intensity than that used for imaging so not comparable.

No, not unsafe. I had two miscarriages, and with my third (and successful) pregnancy, my OB was happy to give me however many medically unnecessary scans it took to make me feel just a little bit safer.

the risk is so tiny I wouldn’t worry about it . I was high risk with twins and had nearly weekly scans

With my singleton I had scans at 7 weeks, 9 weeks, 12 weeks, 16 weeks, 20 weeks, 28 weeks, 32 weeks, 36 weeks and he was born at 38 weeks.

I had many more with my twins.

Perfectly safe.

I have twins and had loads of them, I used to joke I could qualify as a time served sonographer. They were all NHS and medically required.

4 scans before 20 weeks is a lot unless requested by your doctor. I understand, it’s a confusing and anxious time. You should discuss your anxiety around the baby with your midwife.

I was told that you should only have ultrasounds in pregnancy if needed and that you should have the minimum required.

People have ultrasounds on, say, their shoulder. Why? Because the ultrasound affects the cells of the body. So, it’s perfectly possible that ultrasounds during pregnancy affect the foetus. If they had no effect, we wouldn’t use them on poorly shoulders, etc!

Unless there are crucial medical reasons, having 4 scans by 18 weeks is madness IMO. Why risk doing harm? More than that, it’s utterly pointless. The scans only reassure you for that moment/day. I think some women subconsciously use extra scanning as some kind of talisman (I’ve had 12 scans already so nothing can go wrong). Having extra scans beyond what’s medically recommended won’t help do anything but empty your purse and potentially increase the risk of harm to your baby.

I had three in about ten days in my last pregnancy on the NHS (one was a specialist heart scan, one the usual 20 week and one a cervical scan due to previous preterm labour) so no i don't think 4 in 12 weeks is gonna cause any issues. there's no evidence it will. you also find you scan less further down the road as you can feel the baby.