Answer to Question #1682 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Q

I am 23 weeks pregnant. I had to take my very sick 15-month-old child to the doctor. They wanted a chest x ray. I told the technician and nurse that I was 23-weeks pregnant, and they said I would be fine—just to put a lead apron on and stand next to my daughter who they had strapped into a chair up in the air to take the chest x ray. I specifically asked if it was okay for me to even be in the room and they said I'd be fine—just put a lead apron on. Well, now I'm being told that was a big NO NO, and I've now put the safety of my unborn child in jeopardy. I'm scared out of my wits now. Please give me any information possible about the damage I might have done.

A

I hope I can allay your anxiety about your concern for your unborn child. First of all, I am sure you realize that at 23 weeks your child is way beyond the stage of having birth defects produced by even high doses of radiation. Secondly, your baby was appropriately shielded and was not exposed to any amount of radiation that should concern you. The dose to your daughter's chest is probably less than 20 mrad. You received substantially less and your baby, even less. I understand your concern and I will try to explain why your anxiety and concern is not warranted in your present situation. When your daughter received diagnostic x-ray study to her chest at a qualified facility, the exposure of the x rays was not to your embryo. The "scatter" that might have reached the embryo would have been extremely small and would not represent an increased risk for birth defects or miscarriage to your embryo. The most important characteristic of x rays that concerns us is the dose. You may not know that we ourselves are radioactive and we are exposed to many sources of natural radiation that we cannot avoid. Your developing embryo did not receive a dose that would result in any measurable increased reproductive risk. If you are healthy, young, and have no reproductive problems or family history of reproductive problems, your risk for birth defects is 3% and for miscarriage 15%. Neither you nor I can change that risk which all mothers have when they begin a pregnancy. Good luck with your pregnancy. Robert L. Brent, MD, PhD