Our dyslexic son—no ultrasound. Our Aspberger-ish child (not diagnosed but scary smart with almost no social skills)—no ultrasound. I always read the materials given to me by obstetricians. I don’t recall any info about ultrasounds. I do recall having to sign 3 times in pregnancy #8 that I did not wish to have an amniocentesis(sp?). The same with pregnancy #9. But no warnings about ultrasounds. As a matter of fact, with #9, my ob had new computer equipment hooked to his ultrasound. He made a DVD for me of baby in utero. He was thrilled with his new gadgets and couldn’t wait to share it with me and my husband.
9? Wow, you ARE an expert! LOL
Read the recommendations that the AMA ( not my favorite group but is one used by an awful lot of docs) and the APA for when ultrasound should be used. The do not use for category INCLUDES should not be used to determine age( those are all those measurements they take) of baby or sex of baby.
I don't know when you had your last little one, but in the last year or two, things have changed pretty drastically.
I had to have several (twice a week for many weeks) with our last (toddler now), and my husband and I had to discuss the known (and potentially unknown but suspected) risks with our doctor.
My last pregnancy was extraordinarily high risk to the baby and to me, and in the end, we did the ultrasounds, since they gave the doctors the best idea of how to proceed and to monitor the situation.
In keeping with the AMA's recent position on the subject, my OB-Gyn will not allow them to be video taped for the family, and only immediate family can be present. She will not do them for gender identification, either. If she discovers the gender, she'll tell you if you want to know, but she won't do it for that reason alone. This is all different than my previous pregnancies.
According to the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (^):
Although the general use of ultrasound for medical diagnosis is considered safe, ultrasound energy has the potential to produce biological effects. Ultrasound bioeffects may result from scanning for a prolonged period, inappropriate use of color or pulsed Doppler ultrasound without a medical indication, or excessive thermal or mechanical index settings. The AIUM encourages patients to make sure that practitioners using ultrasound have received specific training in fetal imaging to ensure the best possible results.
These people do ultrasound for a living, and even they are clear in warning of the potential risk.
For the record, I'm still here, just a bit worse for wear, and so is our littlest one, who turned out just fine, so I think we made the right decision.