CT scan while pregnant.?

12 days ago I was with my child in the scanning room while she had a CT scan. (I wore the lead overall thing). Today I discovered I am 4 weeks pregnant. (4 weeks since my last period - so I was just pregnant) Should I be scared?

No worries! The following is from a website which has questions answered by qualified medical personnel who are experts in radiation and it's effects. Here is a very similar question:

"QUESTION: My sister-in-law is 22 weeks pregnant. She was standing next to her five-year-old son when he was having a CT (computed tomography) brain scan. She was not wearing a lead apron at the time of the scan. Can you tell me the risks to the baby? I understand that after 20 weeks, radiation risk to the unborn baby is no more than for the mother, but in this case she was not wearing a lead apron. This is the main concern.


ANSWER: Thank you for your question. It would be difficult to estimate how much radiation exposure your sister-in-law or her baby received, but I can say that it would not have been enough to cause health effects for either one.

The only radiation she would have been exposed to would have been scatter radiation and, depending on how close she was to the CT scanner, this was probably about one percent or less of the radiation dose her son received. It would have been very small and even smaller if she were not very close to the scanner.

I would recommend, however, that should she ever have to be in the room again while an x ray is being taken, she request a lead apron whether she is pregnant or not. In the United States, it is a requirement for anyone in the room.

Kelly Classic
Certified Medical Health Physicist"

http://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q61...

This is taken from a question regarding a pregnant women HERSELF getting a CT scan:

"There should be no effects from the chest x ray or the
chest CT scan. The risks to the baby are minimal, if any, when x rays are taken of areas other than the abdomen. This is because the x-ray beam is focused only on the area of interest in order to minimize doses to other areas of the body. When you receive a diagnostic x-ray study of your head, teeth, chest, arms, or legs at a qualified facility, the
exposure of the x rays is not to your baby. The "scatter" that might reach the baby would be extremely small and would not represent an increased risk for birth defects or miscarriage to your embryo."

http://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q27...

The lead apron should protect you from any effects but please tell your GP or midwife if you are that concerned... it was very early days so the chances of it causing any harm are slim.

Good luck and congratulations xx

No, you should be fine. If you want to make sure, just ring the radiology department at the hospital and check with them. You may not have even been pregnant at that stage.