X-Ray and Pregnancy

Sometimes pregnant women have to undergo X-ray investigation. During “pandemic” of “swine” flu it was often necessary to diagnose pneumonia in pregnant women and chest X-ray was performed.

Is it safe to have an X-ray during pregnancy.

It depends on the amount of radiation that is exposed on your body. It is shown that fetal exposure more than 10 rads (unit of absorbed radiation) MAY cause mental and eye pathology of a child. So lower amount of radiation is relatively safe. Here are exact amounts of radiation, which a baby gets after some mother’s X-ray investigations:

- Dental X-ray – 0.01 millirad

- Chest X-ray – 60 millirads

- Abdominal X-ray – 290 millirads

- Computerized tomographic (CT) scan – 800 millirads

During whole period of pregnancy a baby is exposed to approximately 100 millirads coming from natural environment (sun, earth).

1 rad = 1000 millirads. So, for a baby to get just 1 rad mother would have to have, for example, 100000 dental X-rays.

Though the risk is low, specialists do not recommend performing of unnecessary X-rays.

If anyway you need X-ray, follow these recommendations:

- Make sure that radiographer knows that you are pregnant

- Special metallic shields should be used for protection of baby

If you are exposed to radiation at work, you should talk to your employer about avoiding this at least during pregnancy. For more information in this field contact your local authorities responsible for safety monitoring in the workplace.

If you were exposed to radiation before knowing that you are pregnant, talk to your doctor to estimate the amount of radiation that baby may have received, ask about referral to a genetic counselor, and than detailed ultrasound investigation of fetus should be done.

Let your children be healthy and happy.