Fetal Monitoring in the 21st Century essays

Fetal Monitoring in the 21st Century essays Wouldnt you or your family want to have the ability to see your unborn baby whenever you wanted? As technology evolves and our families grow, so does the need for families to connect to their unborn child. Ultrasounds have come a long way in the last decade. When families would go to the doctor for an ultrasound, they would get to see a small fuzzy or darkened area that the doctor would say was the baby. The doctor would also use a specialized microphone to let parents hear the babys heartbeat. Todays technology has allowed hospitals to provide a crisp and clear image that utilizes either three or four dimensional viewing. Right now, the ability to perform at home heart monitoring has grown exponentially with new devices. When parents, especially soon to be mothers are able to feel, see, or hear the baby, the emotional connection grows. The gap between being able to view your baby at the hospital and also at your home has not been fulfilled. During the World War II, there were many researches of the radar and sonar which led to the development of the ultrasound device. English physician Ian Donalds invention of the ultrasound in 1957, and then being used on pregnant woman in 1958, provided families an insight into the world of the unborn baby. This technology has fueled the need to see an unborn baby has become a family need. Ultrasounds are sound waves of very high frequencies that can easily penetrate through human flesh. When the waves penetrate through the body, they are affected by different materials such as the bone and internal organs. The materials affect the ultrasound waves to bounce back to the source. Because the waves reflecting back differently, medical personnel can identify the tissue type by the nature of the reflection. Doctors are also able to detect major anatomical abnormalities or birth defects are visible on an ultrasound. Without the invention of the ultrasound device, doc...