Making Babies Supports Workers, From The Pediatrician to the Ultrasound Tech

Posted by entri in career and education, degree programs

Many women who become pregnant do not even realize they are with child until two or three months into the pregnancy. This is particularly true of women who have irregular menstruation cycles. Getting into the doctor’s office as soon as possible is the best way to ensure the health and well being of the new life that is beginning.

Pediatrics is an offshoot of medicine that deals specifically with infants and children. In the United States pediatric care can extend through to a child’s 21^st birthday, although a child is usually seeing a general practitioner by the age of 16. For a woman who has just become pregnant, consulting with a pediatrician as soon as the pregnancy is confirmed will help to ensure the fetus is developing normally throughout the pregnancy.

There are many cases in which prenatal screening have actually saved the life of a fetus. Congenital heart problems are the most common type of birth defects, and prenatal screening and ultrasound can usually catch the issue during a routine exam. One example is an ultrasound that was able to catch a severely deformed aortic valve; the pediatrician was able to monitor the issue throughout the pregnancy and correct the problem through surgery once the child was delivered. In another case a routine checkup uncovered that the twins a woman was carrying had twin-twin transfusion syndrome, which if left untreated could have killed both babies. There are many stories such as these in which it is clear that without the help of a pediatrician and the sharp eyes of an ultrasound technician, the children would not have had a chance at life.

Unfortunately there is the other side of that coin, which is the improper reading of an ultrasound and the lack of follow-up by doctors. In 2011 a woman who was told by her pediatrician that the routine ultrasound during her exam uncovered a cancer mass, not a baby. She was rushed into surgery and operated on before the surgeon even had a chance to review the final ultrasound. It was later confirmed that she had a normal pregnancy, and that the baby they destroyed was almost 11 weeks old.  There is a $1.7 million dollar lawsuit pending against the federal government, as this couple is a military family and this happened at a military hospital. There is another story in which a woman was told she had an ectopic pregnancy, was given drugs to help induce an abortion and upon a follow-up exam found out that her fetus was indeed inside her uterus. It was too late as the drugs she was prescribed cause the baby to be miscarried.

photo credit: Lab2112 via photopin cc

It is worth noting that in the instance of the military family, the woman had her doubts but did not question the doctors because she assumed they knew more than she did about what was going on. If a woman has that little voice inside telling her something is amiss, it should be listened to. Doctors and ultrasound technicians have years of training and experience, but they are also human and humans can make mistakes. Seeking advice and opinions of other doctors will help to set the mind at ease and ensure that the correct diagnosis is being made.

Making Babies Supports Workers Credit Picture License: dMadPhoto via photopin cc