Rationale and Comments

Prenatal ultrasounds are an integral part of a woman’s prenatal care. While obstetric ultrasound has an excellent safety record, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers keepsake imaging as an unapproved use of a medical device. The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine also discourages the non-medical use of ultrasound for entertainment purposes. Keepsake ultrasounds are not medical tests and should not replace a clinically performed sonogram.

Sponsoring Organizations

• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

Sources

• Expert consensus

Disciplines

• Obstetrical

References

• ACOG Committee Opinion. Number 297, August 2004. Nonmedical use of obstetric ultrasonography. ACOG Committee on Ethics. Obstet Gynecol. 2004 Aug;104(2):423-4.
  
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Fetal keepsake videos. Available at: http://www.fda.gov/medicaldevices/Safety/AlertsandNotices/PatientAlerts/ucm064756.htm. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  
• Abramowicz JS, Barnett SB; ISUOG; WFUMB. The safe use of non-medical ultrasound: a summary of the proceedings of the joint safety symposium of ISUOG and WFUMB. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2009 May;33(5):617-20.
  
• American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine. Prudent use in pregnancy. Laurel (MD): AIUM; 2012. Available at: http://www.aium.org/officialstatements/33. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  
• Chervenak FA, McCullough LB. An ethical critique of boutique fetal imaging: a case for the medicalization of fetal imaging. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2005;192(1):31–3.