First picturesOne for the album

doi:10.1136/bmj.39106.494931.94

BMJ 2007;334:232-233 (3 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.39106.494931.94

Feature

One for the album

First picturesOne for the album

Geoff Watts, freelance journalist

¹ London

geoff@scileg.freeserve.co.uk

Expectant parents' desire to see images of their unborn childrenhas given rise to private ultrasonography services. Geoff Wattsconsiders whether this non-medical use of the technique canbe justified

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The pictures tell the story. Baby's first feed,first smile, first steps, first birthday, first everything.The record is there to be scrutinised and treasured. But whywait until birth? Why not start this pictorial history in utero?

Ultrasound imaging may have entered obstetricsas a medical tool, but it is now establishing itself as somethingmuch more. Go to the web and you can find scores of companieswilling to exploit the powerful emotional impact of seeing yourfetus by generating still pictures to grace the first page ofthe album or moving ones to play on the home computer. Not medicallynecessary, of course. An indulgence, certainly, but harmless.Or is it?

Not everyone takes a benign view of non-medicalultrasonography. The US Food and Drugs Administration, the AmericanInstitute of Ultrasound in Medicine, and the French Academyof Medicine are among several official bodies that have reservations. . . [Full text of this article]