MM Comment


New craze something of a scandal?


Ultrasound scans are commonplace in pregnancy today, but MM’s Editor is concerned about a new craze that has grown up involving using scans for entertainment purposes...


By Debbie Orme


We all know about today’s obsession with social media and our need to have photos of absolutely everything we order in restaurants or see in the street, but there’s a new craze that, I have to admit, is concerning me. Ever since Professor Ian Donald first


introduced 2D ultrasound scans in the early 20th century, there’s never a second where a scan isn’t performed somewhere in clinical practice. 2D scans have always provided a single


image of our babies and we’ve all come out of pregnancy clinics at one time or another brandishing a little black and white, grainy and often indistinct picture in our hand. Since Professor Donald’s time, of


course, things have moved on in technology and the arrival of the third dimension (3D) ultrasound in obstetrics has meant that, instead of only having a single image, we now have access to multiple images that are processed very quickly to create 3D images. The latest arrival – the fourth dimension


(4D) – the real-time scan – has now brought us moving images of our babies inside the womb, and this is both amazing and fantastic to witness.


56 Modernmum But while the development of these


scans has brought many benefits to both mum and baby in terms of diagnosis of various health issues, it seems that the use of the scanning technique is now being used for entertainment purposes in the States, with ‘foetal scan parties’ or ‘foetus parties’ popping up on an increasingly regular basis. The format is simple. Similar to a baby


shower where mums to be receive gifts, the foetal scan party includes live baby scanning events, where friends and family can watch 3D and 4D moving images of the baby in the womb on a monitor. There is, of course, a positive side to this


practice in that the live scan format allows parents-to-be to share the moment with their loved ones, but it’s certainly a far cry from the original purpose of ultrasound, which was intended to be a screening tool to help detect babies with serious problems and ensure pregnancy management was tailored appropriately. Healthcare professionals everywhere are


expressing concerns at ultrasound being used as a consumer ‘tool’ or a ‘party prop’, and I have to admit that I can certainly empathise with their concerns. Let’s just think of some of the worst-


case scenarios. What, for example, if the person carrying out the scan spots an


abnormality in the baby in front of everyone? What if the mum-to-be goes ‘public’ at an early stage in her pregnancy and a serious problem later emerges? Or what would happen, God forbid, if the baby was to later die in the womb? The psychological impact on the parents-to-be, their families and friends could be devastating. (I have to admit that I have similar


concerns regarding ‘sex unveiling’ parties. It’s not the first time that – even with a scan – a couple has been told that their baby is of one sex and it turns out to be the other!) Needless to say, a whole industry has


grown up out of this new gimmicky practice. A quick scan of the internet will clearly indicate the increase in the number of companies now offering such services, with ‘add-ons’ including party bags filled with fridge magnets, teddy bears and keyrings bearing images of the unborn child. (In the States, foetal postage stamps and scratch tickets are also now available. Let’s not even go there….) While there’s no medical evidence to


suggest that such parties carry any element of danger to an unborn baby, the psychological consequences are, I feel, too heavy a concern to justify this type of event. What do you think?


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