The concern with the increased incidence of left handedness following ultrasound is, as I understand it, because this can be an incidation of brain changes being made in the developing fetus. The fear is not the left handedness, but what else could be going on. Also most recent trials in ultrasound have been done post 20 weeks, which of course is very different from the very early and very close to the fetus transvaginal ultrasounds which are so often offered these days.
The decision to accept an ultrasound, or not, is a very personal one. As with any medical decisions there can be consequences of accepting, or refusing, this test which has been made clear on this thread and I am sure you are aware of yourself. Personally, for me, I was happy for one scan post 20 weeks, which did in fact diagnose twins. Armed with this information I was able to make a decision to have one more scan, and my OB readily agreed to this. The fact that you are worried about feeling bullied speaks volumes about the lack of trust you have for your care provider. Perhaps rather than worrying about this one test, you should be thinking about getting a care provider who you are not worried will bully you, so that if they do suggest a test or intervention you can be confident that this is based on your personal health needs, and not on any routine recommendation.
Yes Traveller, that is the general idea of the claim, but it is still a very long bow to draw and not proven. And does that therefore imply that there is something wrong with the brains of lefties out there?! maybe
There are various theories, including that left handed children of right handed parents might have some small amount of brain damage, but of course you are right in that nothing is known for a fact.
The thing is it would be very difficult to prove anything is due to ultrasound alone. What else had started since routine ultrasounds started? Use of folate, the regular taking of pregnancy vitamins, increased use of preservatives and other additives in food, even down to the use of other therapies during pregnancy. I do agree though that if ultrasounds were going to cause any major problems it would have been noticed by now when just about every pregnant woman in the developed countries have at least one and have done for a few decades at least.
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