Ultrasounds. Sonograms. Whatever you call them, they are the grainy black and white pictures that many women get of their unborn babies.

Ultrasounds were traditionally taken if there was a suspected problem with a woman’s baby, or perhaps to see if there was more than one kid in there.

Then, they started being used routinely to ‘confirm’ or ‘date’ a pregnancy.

And seemingly all of sudden, women are having multiple ultrasounds to check if baby is ‘too big’ (btw – what’s too big?), or just to have another photo to add to the picture album.

Does any of this improve outcomes for mom or baby? Not so much.

Before you start screaming at me, please know that I think an ultrasound is a great tool to use if there is a suspected or known complication of pregnancy. For sure. However, the vast majority of pregnant moms are ‘no’ or ‘low-risk’.

Not to mention, ultrasounds in fact do a really poor job of determining the size of baby in utero. How many of you know someone (or are someone!) who had their baby induced early because an ultrasound estimated that he or she was getting ‘too big’ to deliver vaginally, only to have a petite 6 pounder? And again, what the heck is too big? A 4’11” friend of mine had a 12 pound baby. At home. With no drugs.   No problem!

And let’s not get into the false positives that happen all too often. I was in the room when a good friend had an ultrasound.  She was told that her baby would have one leg that was significantly shorter than the other. It’s no surprise that she was a nervous wreck for months before the baby was born – perfectly healthy, with no leg issues. Or my friend who was told in no uncertain terms that her baby had multiple physical deformities – to the point where they considered termination of the pregnancy – only to delivery a healthy baby.

My advice to you? Ask questions and be an informed consumer.

• “What is the indication for this test?”
• “What will you do differently with the information gained from this test?”
• “What are the side effects?”

To this last question, I’m quite sure most doctors will say there are no negative side effects. However, I will leave you with this direct quote from the National Institutes of Health: “Despite widespread application of ultrasound imaging and Doppler blood flow studies, the effects of their frequent and repeated use in pregnancy have not been evaluated in controlled trials.”

I’ll pass, thank you very much.

If you are pregnant, fuggedabout your due date.

It’s a myth. Mmm-hmmmm, you heard me right. Due dates don’t really mean anything.

Think of how unique each of us are; we are many different combinations of height, weight, hair and eye color. No two noses look exactly alike, and let’s not even get into how different Kim Kardashian’s rear end is from Chelsea Handler’s.

So why do we think that each and every baby should be born exactly 280 days from the onset of their mom’s last period? That, my friends, is the myth of the due date.

There is, in fact, a window of 4-5 weeks in which babies can be expected to come and be considered full-term, with no complications.

Why babies come when they do is a little-understood science. Some theorize that when a baby’s lungs are mature, this triggers a hormone that starts labor. Others say that since those last weeks are when baby shows the most growth, they come when they are at their peak survival time – fat stores, brain growth and reflexes are ready for the outside world.

So if most babies will be born healthy and happy between 38-42 weeks, why do so many doctors start talking induction 38 weeks (or earlier!)?

I dunno, but I can guess.  

An induced labor is a controlled labor. There is no mystery about when, where or how labor will start. It’s all nice and tidy, tied up in a package of hospital gowns, Pitocin and a 9-to-5 work day. Nice for the doctor, but is it good for the baby or mama? I think not.

The contractions stimulated by Pitocin are waaaaay stronger and more painful than those you would have had if labor had started naturally. The use of Pitocin also necessitates that you have other interventions like an IV and constant fetal monitoring, not to mention it increases the likelihood of the need for a C-section.

Not. Cool.

Who are we to think we know better than nature about when a baby should be born? In a complicated, high-risk pregnancy, perhaps yes. But in the vast majority of healthy pregnancies? Step away from the induction, please!

Our belly buttons may pop out toward the end of pregnancy, but alas, it’s not the same as the turkey thermometer. There is no “done” button.

Only Mother Nature knows when the time is right for your baby to come. So, Listen to your mother, ya hear?