Is Prenatal Ultrasound Safe?Studies have shown ultrasound is not hazardous. There are no harmful side effects to you or your baby. In addition, ultrasound does not use radiation, as X-ray tests do.http://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/ultrasound_____________________________What about Safety?It has been over 40 years since ultrasound was first used on pregnant women. Unlike X-rays, ionizing irradiation is not present and embryotoxic effects associated with such irradiation should not be relevant. The use of high intensity ultrasound is associated with the effects of "cavitation" and "heating" which can be present with prolonged insonation in laboratory situations. Although certain harmful effects in cells are observed in a laboratory setting, abnormalities in embryos and offsprings of animals and humans have not been unequivocally demonstrated in the large amount of studies that have so far appeared in the medical literature purporting to the use of diagnostic ultrasound in the clinical setting. Apparent ill-effects such as low birthweight, speech and hearing problems, brain damage and non-right-handedness reported in small studies have not been confirmed or substantiated in larger studies from Europe. The complexity of some of the studies have made the observations difficult to interpret. Every now and then ill effects of ultrasound on the fetus appears as a news item in papers and magazines. Continuous vigilance is necessary particularly in areas of concern such as the use of pulsed Doppler in the first trimester. The greatest risks arising from the use of ultrasound are the possible over- and under- diagnosis brought about by inadequately trained staff, often working in relative isolation and using poor equipment. http://www.ob-ultrasound.net/_____________________Obstetric ultrasound uses high-frequency sound waves to transmit a live image from inside the womb, allowing you to see a fetus as well as things like the placenta and amniotic sac. This technology was first introduced in the late 1950s and came into widespread use in the late 1970s and 1980s, at which point it was still unclear if frequent scans could have a dangerous impact of any sort on a growing baby. In response, there have been several major trials published on ultrasound safety in the last several decades, all of which found no differences in developmental, neurological or psychological outcomes for children with up to 12 years of follow-up. As a result, ultrasound — also known as sonography — is now the method of choice for imaging a fetus.Not only is the procedure safe, but it also has many benefits. In fact, of all the advances in the practice of obstetrics over the last 30 years, the greatest one has been diagnostic ultrasound.http://www.revolutionhealth.com/healthy-living/pregnancy/forty-weeks/first-trimester/ultrasound-safety