Ultrasounds and Autism or Speech Delay?

Hi S.,
I had an ultrasound almost every time I went to see my Dr. when I was pregnant. I went a lot. I thought everyone did but later found out some people only have a few the whole time. My daughter is three now and very verbal. She started talking when she was under a year old and has a huge vocabulary and never stops talking. She is a very social kid and seems to be developing typically. I had never heard of the links between ultrasounds and brain damage.There is so much to worry about when you are pregnant. Try not to let it drive you crazy and good luck!
K.

I had placenta privia just had a healthy baby girl two and a half weeks ago hoping she stays that way I haven't heard anything about ultrasounds I had a lot if them too hope it's safe.

I don't think you need to be worried. I am from Germany and there the OB-Gyns do the ultrasounds themselves and do one for EVERY visit during the whole pregnancy, about 15 to 20. In Germany the autism rate is 1 in 1500, here in the US it is 1 in 91. If you ask me (I am an autism mom myself), I would be much more worried about the large amounts of vaccines that they give here (too many, too early!) in comparison to countries with much lower autism rates.

I hope that this does not spread, because it would be too bad if parents avoided another measure of standard medical care that could be lifesaving because of specilation, anecdote an coincidence. Possiblity can be at the farest end of probablity, all kinds of improbable things are possible, but not worthy of anxiety.

Causality for a complicated condition like autism is not going to be as simple as one procedure (that almost everyone has at a "suspect" time) Even if there is a correlation, that is a long way from a cause, and may mean nothing more than nearly every child who is born today has been subject to ultra sound, the mulitple reasons for a preganacy to need multiple ultrasound makes the correletaion that much more suspect. The point of reputable research is to tease out all the coincidetal and anedotal evidence and get real, repeatable results that will eventially lead to an answer that is based on all the evidence. By guessing at one single coincidence, it is like feeling the tail of the elephant blindlfolded and making an ID.

Dont waste your time worrying about this, even if you think you see a "cause" in the anedotes you collect, your child will still have a 1 in 110 risk of developing autsim just by being born. It is now 1 in 99 if your child is a boy. It is human nature to try and find someone or something to blame, and the fear of the unknown feeds people to try to find a way to prevent this outcome. You can't. If it effects your family, it won't go away if you can blame something as cause and treatment are not linked either, and even if you get to the point where you feel strongly about who the "guilty" party is, you will not feel any better about it if your child is autistic; in some cases, I think people feel worse if they can vent about something that they think hurt thier child, you are much better equiped if you can move forward instead. I think this trend even leads parents to more self blame and guilt, because they start to beleive that they should have prevented it.

If you are still seeking anecdote, my 18 year old had one ultrasound, and is autistic. She also went to the circus, ate chicken, peas, pears, bananas, stubbed her toe, was sung to, had stiches, and many other shared childhood expereinces, but I choose to accept the unknown and our genetics as the cause, which is why she is participating the the Autism gene research project, AGRE. They just annouced a break through genetic discovery this week, and you would be much better off reading about that, and joining the project if you turn out to be one of the few for whom autism is reality, than you will be to look to speculation and unecessary worry.

Keep your blood pressure low by refusing to buy into this and think possitive thoughts about your pregnancy and know what the developmental milestones are, never wait and see if you think you have a problem, and get the earliest intervention that you can muster or afford if your child is one of the 1 in 110. You don't have to think about that today, and you might want to read trashy magazines instead of seaching the internet until your baby is born, just to keep your blood presure down!

Good luck with your new baby and enjoy being Mommy to number #1.

M.

I think the ultrasound link is probably a lot like the vaccine link. Almost everyone who has a child with autism has had ultrasounds and got their child vaccinated... but so did almost everyone else. Statistically speaking there isn't a correlation, but emotionally some people's guts just feel like there is a link.

There IS some correlative data, however that links advanced PATERNAL age and Autism, but again, that's a link not a cause.

Enjoy your baby. Don't spend your pregnancy worried about what might be. Your child will be exactly the one that you were meant to have.

HTH
T.

I am currently doing research for an assignment on Autism for my Master's degree. I had not come across anything pertaining to your question...until this morning. I was shocked and disturbed that I was never informed of this. My last pregnancy was high-risk and I kept loosing amniotic fluid towards the last 4 months of pregnancy so I had to have a ultrasound every week until the substitute doctor decided to induce labor the day of the last ultrasound or my daughter would've died.

She suffered from speech delays and delayed milestones. I never thought that ultra sounds would cause that until I read it. This is disturbing and I do not want to alarm you, but everyone needs to know this..

http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/ultrasoundrodgers.asp

Nanc

I have a blood clotting issue so had sonograms every week during my pregnancy with my son. He was born healthy with no problems. He was a little speech delayed due to a tongue tie, but when that was corrected he talks my ears off now! The ultrasounds saved his life, he was breech with the cord 3x around his neck & pooled under him, if he turned we would have died. So we was born 36 weeks 6 days. I thank god every day for those ultrasounds that saved his life.

I had a placenta previa with my 2nd daughter & had so many ultrasounds, it's hard to count. At one point I had one every Monday, Wednesday & Friday. She was born at only 5lb1oz, but the brightest & smartest of all my 3 & can't stop talking. To answer your question, I don't think it had any effect on my kids as I also had tens of them with my other 2. Good -luck & I'm sure all will be well. Enjoy your pregnancy

Since we lost our daughter at term to a hemorrhage which is easily detected on ultrasound (if one knows to look), we did many u/s with our next pregnancy. Our son is now 4 and bilingual, so any speech delay would be hard to detect. He does not show signs of autism. In our case the benefits (mostly peace of mind while I was pregnant!!) clearly outweighed potential negatives. good luck!

I've had more ultrasounds than I can count, with my oldest son and with my current pregnancy - it's normal procedure for IVF and for high-risk pregnancies (my case, both times). So far, no issues with my oldest son.

From what I've read, they are safe but I googled it and came up with a few articles related to tests in mice. It is of course a cause for concern - I'm wondering if it's a situation where benefits outweigh risks, if it were a common ocurrence we'd be seeing a lot of cases with brain damage with IVF/ high risk patients and that hasn't happened.

I had 4 or 5 with my 3 year old daughter and she is quite advanced for her age.

I had 19 ultrasounds with my pregnancy and my daughter is beautiful, bright, and healthy!

My step-mom had no ultrasounds with my little sister, who is turning 18 next month, and she has severe autism. (to the point that's it's like she's a 2 yr old...) There are MANY people who have had alot of sonos during their pregnancy and I've never heard this that ultrasound causes brain damage. Don't believe everything you read.....

This might sound terrible, but we were living in a devleloping country while I was preg with my DD. There wasn't a lot of info available to us at that point, and ultras were only $25 a pop. Our OB had just gotten a new machine and it was like a toy to her so we had one at nearly every visit, plus a 3-d image made at the end b/c they said she was "overdue."

She was raised bilingual and by the age of 2 spoke both languages better than any monolingual kid of the same age spoke just one of those languages. So if it does affect language centers of the brain, well, it did not for her.

She's still bilingual, even though we moved from that country when she was 3. Most of the kids we know who were raised bilingual for years then left lost one language. She's got a particular gift for tongues, I guess, ultrasound notwithstanding.

She definately does not have autism.

My understanding of USs is that no one reallly knows if they can cause any harm, but as of yet there is no conclusive evidence that they do.

My son who is on the autism spectrum only had 2 US. My daughter and other son who are normally developing each had 4.

The problem is soooo many things change one generation to the next. Increased exposure to toxins in the air and food, increased use of vaccines and other medications, increased exposure to TV, increased use of cell phones, the list goes on and on. If you look at the increased rate of autism diagnosis over the years you can easily make a quick connection to an increase in a million different things. The problem is no one can prove it.

Good luck,
K.

I've never heard of a link between ultrasounds and brain damage or autism.

I had approximately 25 ultrasounds during my pregnancy and my son does not have autism or any brain damage. He does have a speech delay, but he was a preemie (33 weeks) and I think that's just a preemie delay. He's been in speech therapy for a year and it's made such a difference. He just turned 3 and people are surprised when I tell them he has a delay.

I had twins and was there every 2 weeks for ultrasounds and sometimes more at the end!! I had both internal and external every time. My twins are both healthy and now 3 years old and NO concerns what so ever. I hope this eases your mind. Try to enjoy your pregnancy...the worry will only raise you r blood pressure ;)

I had both my girls in Germany, where when you have private insurance they will take an US about every visit. Being insured by the US Army, I am considered private insured. I had about 20 each with them (they were born nearly 7 years apart) and as of now there are no developmental issues (granted the little one is only 14 months) But this is the norm here with ultrasounds and I don't think there are a lot of kids with Autism. My older daugther was also raised bilingual, speaks both german and english fluently, goes to a german elementary school and just taught herself to read english!
Just relax, ask your OBGYN if all the US are necessary as you are concerned and he/she should be able to give you more info as well!
Here is hoping to an uneventful and nice pregnancy and delivery!

My Obgyn during my first pregnancy (10 years ago) gave ultrasounds reluctantly. She would only schedule me for one on my last visit which would have been 39 weeks. Sadly, I lost my first baby at 37 weeks--there was a problem with the cord that might have been detected on an ultras. During my next pregnancy i had at least 4 and my daughter is healthy. She did have a slight speech delay, but so did half of her cousins, so I think that's genetic.
I'd talk to your doctor if you are worried.

Just one more person who had a huge number of ultrasounds during my pregnancy - approximately 1/week, including long, detailed, 3 d ultrasounds.
My almost 2 daughter is bright & healthy and fairly advanced in her speech. At the time I did some research on whether ultrasounds had any side effects, and did not find any literature on the subject. I'd be curious where you are getting your information?

I had an u/s every week from week 5-14 and then twice a month until delivery. My daughter is 3 with no signs of austism or a speech delay. In fact, she talks all the time. :) Everyone tells me she seems like a minature adult b/c her language is so advanced. I do talk to her constantly since it is just us at home all day. Just enjoy seeing your baby so much. I thought it was awesome to see her with before her heart was even beating.

i have had 2 pregancies with 3 kids (1 twin birth) all high risk with complicationd hence tons and tons of ultrasounds and all 3 of my children are absolutely normal, now 5 and 4 and 4. whatever you are reading is giving you wrong info.

First of all, please don't worry about the future. You have no control over how your baby will turn out, and it is healthier for both you and your child to relax.

That said, should there be problems once your child is born,still you do not have to worry, as more and more is known and shared to help those with issues. For example, my daughter had learning disabilities years ago, but through therapies that she had from 6th grade to 8th grade, was able to raise her IQ by 20 points and is independent, successful, and on the Dean's List in college without help. I now teach teachers and therapists about the many things available to help our children.

Finally, once your child is born, be sure that he or she moves alot! If you are required to have bed rest so that your child is born healthy, some of the development that should have happened in utero will instead have to happen after birth. But it can happen! Movement is development and learning. Keeping a baby in a sling or a carrier stops the learning. Lots of tummy and back time, and you will have a happy curious well developed baby.

And should there be an issue, there is plenty of help available now as well.

Good luck, and don't worry!

K. Johnson, MS Ed
www.pyramidofpotential.com

My daughter has been in speech therapy from 18 months to now (she's 7) and I only had 2 (maybe 3) ultrasounds in my pregnancy. Don't see a corelation there. . . I have always thought it was because she was premature and who knows why that happened.

Well, it is now almost 7 years after you wrote this post. My daughter just turned 7 and she has a speech delay and now she is flagged for a learning disability and if you ask me, it was most likely due to all the ultrasounds I had during pregnancy. If I had known what I know now, I wouldn't have had as many as I did. Not saying that I wouldn't have any just not as many. Very frustrating. Your baby I'm sure went on to be fine. I think what doesn't help is worrying about all this. No longer are the days where health professionals let you enjoy your pregnancy. The worst thing a mother can do is stress during her pregnancy.

That is a new one I have not heard yet. I am currently pregnant with baby #2. I have to have an ultrasound every month because of a complication I had with baby #1. My son is 17 months old. There is not sign of Autism or speech delay to date. He was ahead of the curve on development except walking. He finally walked on his own at 16 months. I had many ultrasounds with him too. I think I had 5 or 6. I have worked with Early Intervention and had many children that had Autism and the moms said their pregnancy were fine, so my assumption is they had few ultrasounds, maybe two or three. As you usually don't have more than that except for some possible complication. I wouldn't worry so much. Worry and fear can cause unwanted problems, especially since you already have high blood pressure. It is still unknown about the causes of Autism. There is just a lot of guessing that makes it crazy for us parents. Stay healthy, eat right, feed your children healthy and do what you think is best for you and your children.

I had tons of ultrasounds because I had gestational diabetes, and so far my daughter is right on track verbally.

Here is the most recent scientific research I could find:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19728066

It's from the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders and it finds no connection between the two. I would second the other mamas who talk about correlation not being causation.

For what it's worth, I had tons of ultrasounds and my son is just fine.

I had an ultrasound every week due to my health & all 3 of my kids are fine...no autism, speech dealy, or brain damage thank the Lord. I think you will be just fine. Congrats on your pregnancy!

my take on this was better safe than sorry -- each time they suggested an ultrasound, I asked what the purpose was, if it would give info that would change what they would already do anyways. if it could give truly helpful info (like getting 1 at 10 weeks 1 at 20 weeks, seeing organs and counting limbs), then okay -- but usually it was for me to show off pictures, which is SO not worth risking my child's health.

they used to give mom's x-rays to check on the baby, thinking that it couldn't hurt anything. today we think that's ludicrous!

I've heard of these reports also. But, I can tell you from my experience, my son is 7 and has a mild speech/language delay-they released him from services just this year. There is also a thought/concern that he might have Asperger's. I only had about 3 U/S with him. I also had HBP with that pregnancy. Then, with my daughter-still having HBP and gestational diabetes, seemed I was always having an U/S, but maybe only 6-7. Unfortunately I don't remember specifically. But, she seems a little advanced for her age-was speaking complete sentences at about 2, walking at 9 months, already writing letters. So, I guess it's hard to say for certain. Good luck.

Hi S.
My twin girls were born at 37 week 1 day after a week's hospital stay, and 19 weeks of bed rest. I had an ultrasound every week during those 20 weeks.
Born at 6#8oz & 5#11, No speech delay, and no autism.
There were some head holding issues with baby B, that I spent much time in prayer about, and asked the MD about, and ... but they were resolved at about 10 months. No one said it was ultrasound related, and I have not read that.
Since they will be college juniors in the fall with GPA's of 3.8 & 3.6 respectively I think the ultrasounds didn't hurt them and perhaps would have alerted us to a problem.
God bless you as you work with your OB to solve the high blood pressure issue. Always if you have questions ask the OB and settle it in your mind, stress never helps. So my advice is to talk to the OB about known consequences of ultrasound, not scare tactics of the extreme.