Fetal Ultrasound Risks

We conclude that ultrasound exposure in fetal life increases the risk of left-handedness in men, suggesting that prenatal ultrasound affects the fetal brain.

Obviously the effects may be good or ill, but I’ll presuppose they’re bad on the face of it (more ways to break an egg than strengthen it).

This may be due to a small portion of improperly administered ultrasound only (during the introductory/clinical phase, ultrasound didn’t increase left-handedness; after wider deployment, it did (1.32x more likely than without ultrasound) - see Seth Roberts’ discussion.

Ultrasound may be essentially completely safe for a fetus at correct doses. Also, I don’t know how often some beneficial medical intervention is indicated by ultrasound. If it were me, I’d ask to see records of the maintenance/calibration of the ultrasound, and limit it to windows where there’s a possible change in treatment (benefit). Curiosity doesn’t seem reason enough.
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