Answer to Question #4599 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

I work for a mobile x-ray company and we go into nursing homes. More than half of the patients we see need to be held for their x rays or, at the very least, we have to stay in the room to make sure they don't move off the film. My husband and I would like to have a baby but I'm concerned with how much radiation I have already received and if this will cause any birth defects.

I have a few questions in response to your question.

Do you wear a radiation monitoring device? If you do, that device will tell you how much radiation you have been exposed to. If you wear one but don't know what your exposure readings have been, ask your employer. If your employer has determined that the exposure you will receive is below the levels that require you to wear a radiation badge, then there is no reason for concern regarding possible effects on future pregnancies.

Do you wear lead aprons when you are holding the patient or near them? If you do, there is likely zero radiation dose to your ovaries. Most state regulatory agencies require a lead apron to be worn by a person in the room during an x-ray exposure.

When you are in the room but not holding the patient, do you stay at least three feet away? If you do, there is likely zero radiation dose to your ovaries.

Without knowing the types of exposures (chest, head, neck, abdomen), number of exposures per period of time, distance from where the primary beam enters the patient, and whether you are shielded when you're in the room, I cannot fully answer your question. However, you don't receive very much exposure from standard diagnostic x rays unless you are in the primary beam of radiation.

Kelly Classic
Certified Medical Health Physicist