PRENATAL ULTRASOUND IRRADIATION AS AN UNDERESTIMATED RISK FACTOR FOR THE BIRTH OF CHILDREN WITH DIFFERENT ABILITIES (AKA SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46827/ejse.v0i0.2461Keywords:
prenatal ultrasound, Doppler, danger, risk, children with different abilities, special educational needs, informed consent, conscious parenting, responsible parentingAbstract
The increasing number of pathological conditions among children nowadays and in the past decades is the main reason for writing this paper and conducting the study described in it. Some of the conditions referring to in this article are: autism and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), dyslexia, late onset of speech, epilepsy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), emotional and behavioural disorders. By the means of observation we can conclude that the current prevalence of these conditions and others as well, are pandemic, especially in the developed countries. The main question we search the answer to in this text is: “Is there any direct or indirect relation between the routine ultrasound irradiation scanning during pregnancy and the number and severity of the disabilities in the children affected by it?” The summarized results from a self-initiated and conducted study on the subject are presented in this paper. The study is realized in the period of eight years (2011-2019), however, here a more than four years data is summarized. The first four years the researcher spend time applying semi-structured interview to different people involved in the ultrasound checking (obstetricians, midwives, doulas, parents) while the rest four years she disseminated a questionnaire addressed to pregnant women and mothers of children with different abilities (aka special educational needs) and typical development children. The author concludes that there is absolute necessity for change in the medical routine practice applied to healthy pregnant women with low-risk pregnancies – both nationally, in Bulgaria where the study is conducted, and internationally – for the sake of children’s health and the need of informed consent of parents before the procedure is applied to the unborn, fragile and unprotected child. The effects of ultrasound wave’s irradiation on the mothers’ health should not be underestimated either.
Article visualizations:
References
Barnett, S. B. & D. Maulik (2001) Guidelines and recommendations for safe use of Doppler ultrasound in perinatal applications. The Journal of maternal-fetal medicine. J Matern Fetal Med. 2001 Apr;10(2):75-84.
Buckley, S. J. (2005) Ultrasound Scans-Cause for Concern. Retrieved from: https://sarahbuckley.com/ultrasound-scans-cause-for-concern/#ref [30 April 2019]
Buckley, S. J. (2008) Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering: A Doctor's Guide to Natural Childbirth and Gentle Early Parenting Choices. Celestial Arts
Gibbs, V., D. Cole & A. Sassano (2011) Ultrasound Physics and Technology: How, Why and When. Churchill Livingstone. Elsevier Health Sciences
Hofer, M. (2013) Ultrasound teaching manual: The basics of performing and interpreting ultrasound. Thieme
Kresser, C. (2019) Natural Childbirth IIb: Ultrasound Not as Safe as Commonly Thought. Retrieved from: https://chriskresser.com/natural-childbirth-iib-ultrasound-not-as-safe-as-commonly-thought/ [19 April 2019]
Marinac-Dabic D, et al. (2002) The safety of prenatal ultrasound exposure in human studies. Epidemiology 2002;13(3 Suppl):S19-22.
Pope, S. (22 March 2019) 50 CAUSAL Human Studies Identify High Risks of Prenatal Ultrasound. Retrieved from: https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/50-in-utero-human-studies-confirm-risks-prenatal-ultrasound/ [30 April 2019]
Saeva, S. (2019) Interaction between children with different abilities and animals. Pedagogy. Bulgarian Journal оf Educational Research аnd Practice. Volume 91, Number 1, pp 59-70, 2019 (in Bulgarian)
Sears, B. (n.d.) Autism rate: 1 in 59 Kids. It’s time to care. Retrieved from: https://tacanowblog.com/2018/04/26/autism-rate-1-in-59-kids-its-time-to-care/ [14 April 2019]
Szabo, T. L. (2013) Diagnostic ultrasound imaging: Inside out. Academic Press.
West, J. (2015) 50 Human Studies, in utero, Conducted in Modern China, Indicate Extreme Risk: A New Bibliography. Harvoa.
Xu, G., L. Strathearn, B. Liu, B. Yang, & W. Bao (31 August 2016) Twenty-Year Trends in Diagnosed Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder among US Children and Adolescents, 1997-2016. Pediatrics. JAMA Network Open. 2018;1(4):e181471. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.1471. Retrieved from: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2698633 [18 April 2019]
Zablotsky, B., L. I. Black & S. J. Blumberg (November 2017) Estimated Prevalence of Children with Diagnosed Developmental Disabilities in the United States, 2014–2016. NCHS Data Brief. No. 291. November 2017. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db291.pdf [16 April 2019]
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
