Medical practitioners have said babies of pregnant women exposed to radiation are at risk of life-threatening complications and conditions.
The health consequences, the experts noted include growth restriction, malformations, impaired brain function, and cancer. However, the senior health professionals said the health effects on a foetus from radiation exposure depend largely on the radiation dose. According to the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, radiation exposure to an embryo/foetus may increase the risk of cancer in the offspring, especially at radiation doses — 0.1 Gy, which are well above typical doses received in diagnostic radiology. “Most of the ways a pregnant woman may be exposed to radiation, such as from a diagnostic medical exam or an occupational exposure within regulatory limits, are not likely to cause health effects for a foetus. However, accidental or intentional exposure above regulatory limits may be cause for concern”, CDC said.
The physicians said that breathing in any substance that has the capability of emitting radiation is dangerous in pregnancy as it could lead to the death of a foetus in the womb. A Professor of Radiation Medicine at the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Ifeoma Okoye, advised pregnant women to stay away from radiation. With over 42 years in medical practice, the radiologist said when a woman accidentally ingests radioactive materials, she may absorb it into her bloodstream, adding that this could pass through the umbilical cord to the foetus. Okoye said, “Death occurs in very severe cases depending on how much radiation the foetus was exposed to and also if the mother ingests radiation materials and it is transferred through the umbilical cord to the baby. “The foetus can also be at risk of developing other health consequences when exposed to too much radiation in the womb. Too much radiation is equivalent to an individual having 500 chest X-rays.” She, however, noted that the possibility of these health effects depends on the gestational age, that is, how far the pregnancy has gone. “For the foetus, it depends on the gestational stage, the health consequences of exposure have to be at bases that are greater than 0.5 gray. It can be severe, even if such a dose is too low to cause an immediate effect on the mother, it can affect the foetus.
“In a general sense, babies are particularly sensitive to radiation during their early development which is between week two and week 18.
“Most literature will leave it at eight to 18 weeks in pregnancy because, at two weeks, most people aren’t aware they are pregnant”, she said.
Additionally, Okoye emphasised that when a foetus is exposed to large doses of radiation at this stage, the health consequences can be severe, especially to the brain of the foetus. She said, “The health consequences can include stunted growth like intrauterine growth restriction meaning the development of the baby is not in sync with the age of the pregnancy. A malformation can also occur leading to the baby having impaired brain function. In the long term, radiation exposure can also lead to cancer.” Also speaking on the issue, a Public Health Physician at the Department of Community Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Kaduna State, Dr. Aliyu Sokomba, said the health risks of radiation could be higher during pregnancy. He said, “When a person is asked to do a repeated x-ray, he or she is exposed to ionizing radiation. The radiation disrupts cell formation. This abnormal cell formation can cause cancer. “It can affect the genital tract. The reproductive organs like the ovaries can get damaged and after that particular pregnancy, the woman may have difficulty getting pregnant again. It can also affect the kidneys of the mother and baby”, Sokomba said.
