X-ray when pregnant (pls help anyone :( ?)

[Misswhoshallnotbenamed]

Hey all,

I am sorry I am posting in here.... I posted in the pregnancy forum a few weeks ago but haven’t had much joy.

Was hoping maybe some radiographers/radiologists would pick this up or even mums who have experienced this.

I unfortunately had an abdominal X-ray when unknowingly pregnant (around 3-4w). I have read soooo many bad things on the internet (especially that 2-8w the fetus is very sensitive to the effects of radiation) and even the docs didn’t put my mind at ease as they didn’t sound too confident in what they were saying.

This is my first child and it’s meant to be exciting and happy but all I feel is anxiety and scared and just deflated that I am in this situation :(

Just wanted any positive stories of ppl who had X-rays during their pregnancy (especially in the first trimester) or any radiographers who have known patients to be pregnant and their outcomes... I don’t know just anything to give me a bit of hope :(

Thanks in advance x

I had lots of x rays for complex broken ankle. I did have a lead apron draped over but I remember the radiologist talking about what a tiny amount of radiation it actually is.

You need to speak to your midwife/GP/consultant and make them aware.

@DinosaurDiana GP says it’s low risk (but didn’t know much about it), radiographer frightened the life out of me (said oooo that’s not good, radiation can cause mutations especially early on in pregnancies) then a Physicist radiologist was the opposite and said you’ve only received a years worth of radiation but the amount is very small and the risks are very small... don’t have a midwife yet, haven’t even thought that far ahead as my brain hasn’t been able to think straight since it happened. :(

I had a chest X-ray and a special type of CT scan at 6 months pregnant and my DC is now 10 and well. I remember them telling me that a chest X-ray is equivalent exposure to a flight to Paris

@Procrastatron hello, thanks for your story!! I’m pleased to hear your DC is healthy and well. I have read everywhere that Babies are not susceptible to radiation from the 2nd trimester onwards as most of their organs/CNS etc has developed. Yes a chest X-ray is no where near your uterus and is a lower dose than an abdominal X-ray so would explain why it’s that equivalent. I know way too much on radiation now from my constant google searching 🤦🏻‍♀️

I'm not a radiographer but I used to work in research that meant I was regularly exposed to a tiny amount of radiation so I have a bit of knowledge/understanding of the subject that might put your mind at rest until someone better qualified comes along.

An abdominal X-ray is less than 1 mGy. The CDC considers 100 mGy to be the minimum amount of radiation that is harmful to a foetus, anything below 50 mGy is considered safe.

To put it into perspective, before ultrasound, x-rays were commonly used to diagnose pregnancy, check the position of the baby etc for many years. They didn't stop until the mid seventies, even though the risk was known. Anyone you know born before then may well have been x-rayed in utero. I was, my DH was.

Even if you had known you were pregnant, you might have been advised to have the x-ray as the risk to you of not being diagnosed correctly might have been less than the small risk to the baby. Also, many women undergo radiotherapy for cancer during pregnancy and the baby is exposed to many thousand times as much radiation as an x-ray.

Furthermore, although being exposed to radiation does slightly increase the risk of some diseases and mutations, the chance of a mutation occurring spontaneously for no known reason is actually higher.

Hello @chesirecat99, thanks so much for taking your time to post! It’s nice to hear from someone who has radiation knowledge and studied it.

The radiologist told me I received around 3.4MGY from my abdo X-ray. Assume maybe because they have an older machine? Which I was told was over a years worth of radiation (sounds a lot when it’s said like that 😩!) yes have seen online about the threshold, they recommend no more than 50MGY due to the increased risk on defects, childhood cancers etc. I relentlessly searched the deep corners of the internet and have seen studies of woman who received much less than this (10mgy and even a similar amount to me of 4mgy) who were part of malpractice law suits in radiation studies. They both gave birth to children with defects and they both had exposure in early pregnancy between 3-5w (but again as you say about spontaneous mutation, we would never know for sure if it was the radiation that caused it or was spontaneous and nothing related to the exposure). Also other studies of woman who gave birth to children with minor to major defects with even lower MGY exposure of below 1MGY.

I suppose I don’t help myself as I sit and read for hours and hours and blame myself for going for an X-ray and don’t accept doctors words advising it’s low risk.

At the risk of sounding a bit blunt, there’s nothing you can do about it now so it’s probably best to stop googling and concentrate on having a healthy remainder of your pregnancy. Presumably the doctor who ordered the X-ray was concerned that you had some sort of abdominal pathology - it’s quite possible that some of the diagnostic possibilities would have been more harmful to your foetus than the small dose of radiation needed for the X-ray. The dose of radiation for a plain abdo film is relatively small and while avoiding xrays in pregnancy if possible is best, even the Americans (who, due to the litigious nature of their patients, are very risk averse) don’t seem to think it’s a biggy having a single X-ray in early pregnancy. It is rather unusual though that as a woman of child-bearing age you weren’t either asked to sign a self-declaration or do a pregnancy test before the procedure - if you weren’t then it may be worth feeding that back to the department you visited.

@Greybeardy I need some stern advise tbh because I am struggling to pull myself together. So thank you!! And no form was asked to be completed or a pregnancy test. However I was asked “are you pregnant” to which I responded no (as I genuinely didn’t think I was/would be!) and that was that. Hence why I blame myself as I should have maybe even said “don’t know” to the question!

Presumably this must happen all the time, with women having an X-ray without knowing they are pregnant? Along with women who smoke, drink, take drugs etc etc. in the early days before they find out.

Reading online it seems the risk is very small.

As Greybeardy says there is nothing you can do to change it now, so try and relax.

I'm sure it'll all be okay

Hey @HectorHalloumi, unsure how often it happens. Thank you, I will really try too 😩!

💐

I have a friend who is a radiologist and I remember she covered this in her course, it’s not as a big a risk as you would expect at all! I really think it will be absolutely fine and I would talk to your midwife for peace of mind!

I think for a single x-ray, I think you’re probably best just putting google down and focus on having a more relaxing pregnancy.

For context about the difference in attitudes, radiographers have the fear of God and litigation put into them about x-raying anyone pregnant. Radiologists and researchers are much more relaxed (and more informed!)

Enjoy the rest of your pregnancy!

@Yummymummy2020 thank you!!! All of these comments are great as it may also help someone else in the future (would hate for them to feel how I’m feeling and not knowing what to believe!) x

@Yutes yes I know, I am my own worst enemy. Thank you for your comment and reassurance x

There’s a good publication from the Royal College of Radiographers:

www.rcr.ac.uk/system/files/publication/field_publication_files/HPA_preg_2nd.pdf

This states that the risks from an abdominal x-ray are very small, especially in the first 3-4 weeks of pregnancy. I know it’s hard but try not to google anything else as there is so much inaccurate information.

@candle18 hello! Thanks for the link, I have come across it before I think as it looks familiar! Thank you, I’m trying very hard not to 😩! X

@Misswhoshallnotbenamed I am in similar position. I had CT scan of my head at 3 weeks+6 days pregnant. The pregnancy test on that day was negative but the following day when I tested at home it came back positive,clearblue shown 1-2 weeks. I am now so so worried that I can't sleep.
I would be greatful if you could post an update . I hope everything worked out OK for you.

I had a dental x ray when pregnant. I worried myself silly weeks after - I even called the dentist to discuss it!
I was told you get more radiation from taking flight (which I had also done when pregnant and so do millions of other women)x

Hi guys I know this is an old post but I am in the exact same situation. I had a negative pregnancy test so went ahead with a bone density dexa scan of my hips and spine and have since found out i am pregnant and would have been 4 weeks and 3 days on the day I had the scan. My cycle would usually be quite irregular so I didn’t think much of it at the time. I feel so unbelievably stupid now. Can you please let me know how you got on

@Eimz90 I am now 7 weeks pregnant and waiting for my midwife appointment next week to see if she can advice me if there are any tests that can be done to see if the radiations had any effect on the fetus.
So far I had 2 ultrasounds and both only shown an empty gestational sac so It looks like the pregnancy is younger or is not progressing . I m going for a re scan next week.

@Pregnantandvworried i pray that our wee babys will be ok it is probably so soon to know as I had ovulation induction for my first baby and was having internal scans at week 5 and 6 and they couldn’t see much then.. please let me know how you get on <3

I will update .
From what I've read bone density dexa scan don't use as much radiations as CT scans do so hopefully it will all be fine for you. Did you try to contact the department where you scan was done ?

Hi @Pregnantandvworried i have tried contacting the consultant who had asked me to have the dexa scan. He hadn’t got my results through so his receptionist just said that it’s very low radiation but I know it was on reproductive area so can’t help worrying.. I have seen stories of other on here in similar situations and it has all worked out well. Just wanted to be able to enjoy this pregnancy

Hi both, sorry you are so anxious about this. There is an absolutely miniscule additional risk of childhood cancer from the exposures (baseline risk is 1 in 500, additional risk from the X-ray will be much less than 1 in a million). There is no risk of any other effect at this level of radiation dose, and I hope you are reassured that the additional risk from the X-ray is greatly outweighed by the benefits from having the exam. If you have any specific queries please do ask - this is part of my job (currently on maternity leave and had several CT scans and X-rays during the pregnancy as well 🤣)

You seem to have done a lot of research and found that the risks are tiny (ignore the ridiculous litigation cases - people will sue for anything). Background radiation is present in day to day life, plenty more when flying or working around radiation, and you've 'only' had an x ray. I don't mean to minimise your experience, and I can understand your anxiety, but at this point with the knowledge you have I think you can safely accept that your risk from radiation exposure is tiny. Try to just enjoy your pregnancy from this point if you can.