This is something that those who advocate ultrasounds often fail to consider. What are the parents supposed to do when something is found? In a few cases, things can be handled surgically in-utero. In the vast vast majority of cases, nothing can be done until the baby is born and then if it is a genetic issue, than little can be done.

Many times, the so-called 'problem' is found to be non-existent at birth. It might have been an 'artefact' from the ultrasound scan. It may have been operator error. But how much worry and anxiety have parents gone through? Often pregnancy and birth are worrying enough, without being concerned about 'phantom problems" that can't be solved. How many babies have been aborted because of false positives?

I am all for appropriate birth technology, but it seems to me that as a society we have adopted ultrasound as the "wonder technology" without considering some of the downsides it has. What are parents looking for when they seek an ultrasound? Reassurance? The perfect baby? The perfect birth? Unfortunately, ultrasound cannot give us that. It cannot even give reassurance that everything is OK. The error rates for ultrasound are unacceptably hgh.

Ultrasound can be useful for a very small number of obstetric problems. As a mass screening device it is a failure, simply because the high number of false positives and false negatives it produces. Given the dire needs of our health system, and the fact that ultrasound consumes a huge amount of diagnostic resources, one has to question its routine use.

A few thoughts.

Cheers

David