X-rays were taken during pregnancy. Can the baby eat?

No one wants to have an unhealthy baby, so the joy and desire for the newly filled baby are immediately replaced by the double harm of body and mind. A little life was strangled in the bud. It hurts every time I see it.

Does exposure during pregnancy really affect the fetus?

Radiodiagnostic measures received during pregnancy include X-ray irradiation, ultrasound, nuclear magnetic resonance, CT scanning or nuclear medical diagnosis. Among them, X-ray irradiation is the most common and most likely to cause panic among pregnant women and their families. This comes from the common sense of the public that X-ray irradiation will harm the fetus and even lead to deformity. China's free abortion policy leads pregnant women to choose abortion to avoid the possibility of teratogenesis.

Indeed, high-dose ion rays, such as X-rays, will cause many serious injuries to the fetus, such as abortion, fetal growth retardation, cerebellar malformation, mental retardation, etc., which will increase the risk of children suffering from malignant tumors.

But is X-ray diagnosis dangerous?

According to the clinical guidance of American Radiology Society, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and American Food and Drug Administration, the vast majority of diagnostic radiological examinations will not cause harm to the fetus, and if there is, it is very, very low.

However, the American Radiological Society makes it clear that the radiation dose of a single diagnostic X-ray examination cannot reach the dose that causes harm to embryos or fetuses. Therefore, single diagnostic X-ray irradiation cannot be the cause of abortion.

I emphasize the word diagnosis repeatedly here, because the therapeutic radiation dose will far exceed the diagnostic radiation, which is another matter.

Some women were exposed to radiation for some reason before they knew they were pregnant, so they panicked. Some doctors gave wrong advice, which led these women to choose abortion for the health of their children. Once pregnant, it is still possible to make a correct diagnosis through X-ray examination because of some diseases or accidents. Let's look at the data and see if the diagnostic examination will cause fetal damage or even deformity.

If the radiation dose of X-rays to the fetus is less than 50mGy(Gy is the unit of radiation dose, 1gy is equal to 100rad, 50mGy is equal to 5rad, which is equal to 5000 rad), there will be no health impact on the fetus. Only when the fetus is exposed to more than 100mGy radiation will health problems occur, especially in the 8-25 weeks of pregnancy. Except barium enema, continuous imaging of small intestine or radiotherapy, the dose of 100mGy is not used at all in the usual diagnostic X-ray irradiation.

According to the data of American Radiology Society and Obstetrics and Gynecology Society, the radiation dose to the abdominal fetus of pregnant women who received a single chest X-ray examination was 0.020.07 millirad. Remember, only higher than 5000 mrad will cause harm to the fetus. The exposure of the fetus in a single abdominal X-ray film is 100 mrad, and the exposure of the fetus in pyelography may exceed 1 mrad. Mammography showed that the radiation received by the fetus was 7-20 millirads. Through barium enema or continuous imaging of small intestine, the fetal exposure can reach 2-4 rads. Chest CT showed that the fetal exposure was less than 65438 0 rad. Or abdominal lumbar CT scan, the radiation to the fetus can reach 3.5rad.

In other words, ordinary X-rays usually only expose the fetus to a small radiation dose. In addition, when X-ray examination is usually needed during pregnancy, pregnant women's abdomen will be protected by protective clothing containing lead, further reducing the exposure dose. Except barium enema and continuous imaging of small intestine, most contrast agent fluorescence tests will only bring millirad dose to the fetus. The exposure caused by CT will vary according to the number of beats and the distance between films. Pelvic CT may bring radiation as high as 1.5 rad to the fetus, but radiologists can reduce it to nearly 250 mrads by using low-dose technology.

At the end of 20 13, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology issued a new guide to dental care during pregnancy. For the first time, it is clearly stipulated that oral care and oral cleaning, including dental X-ray examination, should be carried out as soon as possible during pregnancy.

So, we can sum up.

Conventional dental X-ray examination, head X-ray examination, limb X-ray examination and chest X-ray examination, including mammography or head and chest CT, will not cause damage to the fetus, and the increase of childhood cancer risk can be ignored. Please consult your doctor when you need an abdominal examination.

Therefore, if pregnancy X-ray examination is really needed because of illness or trauma, and there is no better alternative, there is no need to refuse the examination for fear of causing fetal danger. Your health is not only the most important for yourself, but also for your children.

There are still some issues that everyone cares about.

Do you know that exposure before pregnancy will affect the fetus?

In the first two weeks of pregnancy, if a woman receives more than 10 rad of X-ray radiation, it may kill the embryo. But this is a question of 0 or 1, which means that if the fetus survives, there is no problem.

However, there are also pregnant women who receive chest X-rays. What is the result of the child's deformity?

Remember, 4%-6% of newborns will have various deformities without exposure, but most of them are mild, such as birthmarks and extra fingers or toes. The child's deformity is not the result of diagnostic radiation.

Is ultrasound harmful to the fetus?

Ultrasound uses sound waves, not ion rays. So far, there is no report of fetal injury caused by diagnostic ultrasound including Doppler ultrasound. Ultrasound is safe during pregnancy, which is why modern obstetrics and gynecology do not use X-rays, but use ultrasound routinely.

Is MRI safe?

Similarly, magnetic vibration does not use ion rays, but uses magnetic fields to change the energy state of hydrogen ions in the body for imaging. So it will not cause harm to the fetus. Therefore, when it is necessary to check the development of fetal central nervous system or diagnose placental abnormalities such as placenta previa, magnetic resonance imaging is the best choice.

Specific guidelines for X-ray examination during pregnancy given by American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

1. Pregnant women should be told that X-ray examination is harmless. X-ray irradiation below 5rad will not cause fetal damage or deformity.

2. If diagnostic X-ray irradiation is needed for diagnostic examination during pregnancy, fear of high-dose radiation should not be the reason to stop or give up the examination. However, if possible, other alternative examinations, such as ultrasound or magnetic vibration, can be considered instead of X-ray examination.

It is safe to have ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging during pregnancy.

4. If multiple X-ray exposures are needed, the radiologist should be consulted to calculate the possible total radiation dose of the fetus to guide the diagnosis.

The use of radioactive iodine isotopes during pregnancy is taboo and should not be used.

6. If possible, radioactive contrast agents should be avoided. Only when the benefits of using it far outweigh the possible harm to the fetus can it be considered.

For pregnant women, the following are precautions.

1. First of all, if you are pregnant or suspect that you are pregnant, tell your doctor. This is not only X-ray irradiation, but also the choice of other drugs.

If you need an X-ray examination during pregnancy, remember to tell your doctor whether you have had a similar examination recently. Maybe this check can be omitted.

In short, if you are pregnant or suspected to be pregnant, please consult a doctor, no matter what kind of examination you have. But there is no need to worry unnecessarily, and it is not a reason for abortion.