Today when a woman is pregnant she has the pleasure of seeing her baby via ultrasound pictures at varying stages of her pregnancy. At some point she can even chose to have a 3D picture taken. But that was definitely not the case for women giving birth 30 to 40 years ago. The definition of an ultrasound is energy generated by sound waves of 20,000 or more vibrations per second. The ultrasound started out as underwater testing of the speed of sound in the 1800's. As time went on scientists and physicists continued to discover different uses for this type of sonar. Actually most of the devices used in the 1800 and 1900's were used for Naval ships to detect if there was anything coming at them in the water. Then in the 1920's high intensity ultrasound was used for therapy on animal tissues. It was highly used in rehabilitative medicine and was even believed to be the "cure-all" for such problems as arthritis, asthma, hemorrhoids and urinary incontinence. The 1940's is when ultrasound was experimentally being used as a diagnostic tool. Then in 1949 the United States finally had their first report of diagnostic use of the ultrasound! It's amazing what can happen in over 100 years!
Since that time the ultrasound has continued to grow and flourish. And it's truly amazing what can be seen using the ultrasound now a days!
Since that time the ultrasound has continued to grow and flourish. And it's truly amazing what can be seen using the ultrasound now a days!
We have come such a long way from preparing for a pregnacy from 40 years ago to now. With the development of the ultrasound, the baby can be seen before it is born. This enables doctors to see if there is anything wrong with the baby.
ReplyDeleteThis can be safer for both the mother and baby. Sometimes when there is something wrong with the baby, there can be an affect to the mother. It's amazing what can happen over the years. With that in mind, one can only wonder what will happen in the future with pregnancy and the available technology.
We sure have come a long, long way from prepearing for a pregnancy. This, I would have to say has probably been one of the most brilliant inventions yet. I wonder how the women were ableto keep the baby and raise it for 9 months without being able to have any checkups. Did they not have a little curiosoty to what its gender was? I completely agree with you Brittnay. Not has this invention been great for seeing the baby,but seeing all other things that are available to be viwed using the ultrasound. Its history has come a long way, and am sure there will be greater advancments to it.
ReplyDeleteHow funny, we were just talking about ultrasounds in my biology class last night. My professor touched on the importance and the impact of this invention. She also talked about many improvements have been made to the ultrasound within the past 10 years. The picture quality has greatly improved. Doctors and Specialists are now able to produce a clear picture of the baby before it is ever born (where as before it was very grainy and difficult to see). I tend to think about finding out the sex of the baby immediately, each time I hear the word. However, it has so many other important purposes. It allows doctors to check the baby’s health and insure everything is as it should be. It gives future parents that first glimpse into their new child. It is interesting to think that our experiences will be so much different than our parents, and especially our grandparents.
ReplyDeleteUltrasound technology, I believe, is one of the most amazing inventions that has been created. Pregnant mothers are able to see a picture of their baby or babies through an ultrasound over their period of development. This technology is rather new though. When my sisters were born 35 and 36 years ago, this technology was new and it was not the norm for every mother to have ultrasounds throughout their pregnancy. Today mothers usually have two to four ultrasound over a normal, healthy pregnancy.
ReplyDeleteThis technology can be used to indicate issues with growth or problems with the baby that can be addressed. In addition, parents are able to find out the sex of their baby before he or she is even born. Now you are even able to get 3-D and 4-D ultrasounds of your baby allowing you to see almost exactly what and who they look like.
Ultrasounds can be considered an art. It produces a picture and most times it is an original. They even make picture frames for expectant parents to frame these beautiful works of art.
Ultrasounds can lead to a very controversial issue in our society – the issue of abortion. They are sometimes able to detect issues or problems with the fetus. These problems can sometimes be very harmful to the mother and in some instances the doctor will recommend an abortion to preserve the mother and her health. Not only is this decision extremely hard to make but it can become extremely controversial as well. People who are pro-life may feel that the mother should keep her baby and allow the process of natural selection take over with others who are pro-choice may argue that the mother should be allowed to abort the baby to possibly save her own life and to prevent the baby from having a short or difficult life. Some religions do not even use ultrasound because they do not feel that technology should interfere with the process.
~Angela (A Bag of Tricks)
Ultrasound technology is one of the most interesting of the medical advances of todays society. Being able to see your unborn child in a three dimensional image, is incredible! Hearing his/her heartbeat is enough to excite an expecting parent, let alone being able to see them exactly like they look in the womb.
ReplyDeleteBeing able to see your baby before they are even born is a really fun and exciting thing to get to do. I think every pregnant woman loves to be able to see their baby and what they are doing in the womb! I remember my grand mom telling me that back when she was pregnant they had ultrasound but you could not tell if it was a boy or girl. I cannot imagine having to go the whole 9 months without seeing if my child was a boy or girl. I have also seen 3D ultrasounds and that is very neat and you can actually tell who the baby looks like!
ReplyDeleteThe ultra sound is a very awesome invention. The more we develop technology, the more clear and precise they will be. what did people do before the ultra sound. They could not even find out the sex of the baby. Knowing the sex can be important especially for the father who has to paint the babys room. lol
ReplyDeleteAn ultrasound is a fascinating tool. To be able to see your baby while still in the wound is breath taking. What's more breath taking is the technology used now. where image rendering is used and it looks as though someone snapped a picture of the baby. While ultrasounds are used to determine the baby's health and make sure everything is growing correctly, a lot of people use it to know the baby's sex. To have the option now, and plan for it is a convenience. But not having the option only 30-40 years ago, must have made the surprise exciting. As some couples still don't want to know the sex.
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