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American Morning
Medicine Meets the Mall
Aired October 21, 2002 - 08:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: In this morning's "House Call," it's where medicine meets the mall. Pregnant women can get an ultrasound portrait of their unborn child taken in a distinctly non-medical environment.
And our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has more on this medical procedure that's becoming a cottage industry.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see the baby.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the first images most parents see of their soon-to-be-born baby. They're usually taken at the doctor's office, the cost covered by insurance. Most women have one ultrasound during a typical pregnancy, and for some, even that's not medically necessary.
DR. JOSHUA COPEL, OBSTETRICIAN: It is certainly reasonable to have one ultrasound during a pregnancy for a low-risk women. I don't a lot of reasons to have more than one.
COHEN: Don't tell that to these mothers to be here at Fetal Fotos here in Salt Lake City. This is not a medical facility. Pregnant women come in with their families and friends, just to get a look at their baby. The benefit not medical, but emotional.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is a little boy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it really?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is.
KASSIE, EXPECTANT MOTHER: We were just too excited to wait. We couldn't wait another couple of weeks to find out. We wanted to know.
COHEN: The cost of that knowledge, between $60 and $120, depending upon the quality of the picture.
AMY, EXPECTANT MOTHER: Mostly, we wanted to find out the sex, but we also wanted to see it. The first time, it was a little dot. So we wanted the video and some pictures to share.
COHEN: Another darling.
And that's what they walk away with, a keepsake for their child's photo album and a video set to music. The American Institute of Ultrasound and Medicine estimates there are thousands of businesses like this one. Doctors are concerned that too many ultrasounds could be unsafe. There is no documented danger, but ultrasounds are not passive. This same technology is used in higher frequencies to heat tissue for therapy, and to break apart kidney stones and gallstones.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that women should be discouraged from having so many so-called keepsake ultrasounds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a medical technology that is being used purely for entertainment without value to the woman or her baby.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here is her profile.
COHEN: Fetal Fotos say they have their own object electricians. The FDA says this is an unapproved use of a medical device, and facilities may be violating the law, but the FDA has not gone so far as to shut these facilities down.
These concerns are not keeping expectant mothers away.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Extremely busy. This is a service that women want.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at this cute profile.
COHEN: Fetal Fotos says, by year's end, they will have 10 stores, and then they many more applications for people wanting to franchise.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN: Now the folks who you say, the technicians who were doing the ultrasounds in that story, they are not trained and certified in the same way as the people who do it in a doctor's office, the ones who are in the so-called recreational ultrasounds. They can see the heartbeat, they can see the gender, but they can't look for, they don't know how to look for certain kinds of abnormalities, and doctors say that's one reason it's useless to go to these kinds of stores.
ZAHN: But they made it pretty clear on the disclaimer there. They state that when these people have these photos taken.
COHEN: Absolutely, but some doctors are worried that even so, that people will sort of think, oh, well, I've gone and they looked at it, they saw the heartbeat and the baby is moving around, and everything is fine. They're worried that sort of psychologically, people will think that everything's OK, even when it might not be.
ZAHN: Let me ask you this, Elizabeth, mother of two, have you kept all your ultrasound photos like I have?
COHEN: Absolutely. They're all in the book.
ZAHN: Yes, they're right alongside the color photos from day one of life, right?
COHEN: Exactly.
ZAHN: It's fun to look at. It's such a miracle. Thanks, Elizabeth.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 21, 2002 - 08:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: In this morning's "House Call," it's where medicine meets the mall. Pregnant women can get an ultrasound portrait of their unborn child taken in a distinctly non-medical environment.
And our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has more on this medical procedure that's becoming a cottage industry.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see the baby.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the first images most parents see of their soon-to-be-born baby. They're usually taken at the doctor's office, the cost covered by insurance. Most women have one ultrasound during a typical pregnancy, and for some, even that's not medically necessary.
DR. JOSHUA COPEL, OBSTETRICIAN: It is certainly reasonable to have one ultrasound during a pregnancy for a low-risk women. I don't a lot of reasons to have more than one.
COHEN: Don't tell that to these mothers to be here at Fetal Fotos here in Salt Lake City. This is not a medical facility. Pregnant women come in with their families and friends, just to get a look at their baby. The benefit not medical, but emotional.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is a little boy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it really?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is.
KASSIE, EXPECTANT MOTHER: We were just too excited to wait. We couldn't wait another couple of weeks to find out. We wanted to know.
COHEN: The cost of that knowledge, between $60 and $120, depending upon the quality of the picture.
AMY, EXPECTANT MOTHER: Mostly, we wanted to find out the sex, but we also wanted to see it. The first time, it was a little dot. So we wanted the video and some pictures to share.
COHEN: Another darling.
And that's what they walk away with, a keepsake for their child's photo album and a video set to music. The American Institute of Ultrasound and Medicine estimates there are thousands of businesses like this one. Doctors are concerned that too many ultrasounds could be unsafe. There is no documented danger, but ultrasounds are not passive. This same technology is used in higher frequencies to heat tissue for therapy, and to break apart kidney stones and gallstones.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that women should be discouraged from having so many so-called keepsake ultrasounds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a medical technology that is being used purely for entertainment without value to the woman or her baby.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here is her profile.
COHEN: Fetal Fotos say they have their own object electricians. The FDA says this is an unapproved use of a medical device, and facilities may be violating the law, but the FDA has not gone so far as to shut these facilities down.
These concerns are not keeping expectant mothers away.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Extremely busy. This is a service that women want.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at this cute profile.
COHEN: Fetal Fotos says, by year's end, they will have 10 stores, and then they many more applications for people wanting to franchise.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN: Now the folks who you say, the technicians who were doing the ultrasounds in that story, they are not trained and certified in the same way as the people who do it in a doctor's office, the ones who are in the so-called recreational ultrasounds. They can see the heartbeat, they can see the gender, but they can't look for, they don't know how to look for certain kinds of abnormalities, and doctors say that's one reason it's useless to go to these kinds of stores.
ZAHN: But they made it pretty clear on the disclaimer there. They state that when these people have these photos taken.
COHEN: Absolutely, but some doctors are worried that even so, that people will sort of think, oh, well, I've gone and they looked at it, they saw the heartbeat and the baby is moving around, and everything is fine. They're worried that sort of psychologically, people will think that everything's OK, even when it might not be.
ZAHN: Let me ask you this, Elizabeth, mother of two, have you kept all your ultrasound photos like I have?
COHEN: Absolutely. They're all in the book.
ZAHN: Yes, they're right alongside the color photos from day one of life, right?
COHEN: Exactly.
ZAHN: It's fun to look at. It's such a miracle. Thanks, Elizabeth.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
