routine ultrasound - is it safe??

[Junglemum]

But I have plenty of friends who have no scans- they are not necessary.

Well that depends on your perspective really. If you have cancer, treatment is not necessary but is more than often helpful. Not a lot of things are not necessary, but doesn't mean they don't help.

If i had a baby with a life threatening illness that needed a team of pediatric surgeons on the ready at it's birth, the only way i could possible know would be to have an ultrasound.

I read the first link that referred to a study that showed that routine ultrasounds increase the incidence of left handedness?! i have heard that before as well as a myriad of other wild claims. The fact is that none of the claims are backed up by any credible study (well the left handed one is, but really?!).

If the only reason you are having the ultrasound is for the pics then i agree, you shouldn't be having it. But if you are having it to check the health of you baby and to look for any causes for concern then i think it is a very valuable tool.

ETA- you are correct in saying that there is no specific evidence saying ultrasound is 100% safe. Ultrasound hasn't really been around for that long, but chances are most of us had an ultrasound inutero. I guess if there was any cause for concern, or a study actually showed that ultrasound was in anyway unsafe then people would devote time and effort into proving it was safe.