LoungeMachine
11-25-2005, 01:53 AM
Tom the amateur ob-gyn
Says he's got sonogram gizmo for Katie
BY HELEN KENNEDY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tom Cruise thinks his unborn child is ready for a closeup - lots and lots of closeups.
The movie star told Barbara Walters in an upcoming interview that he bought himself the medical device to give pregnant fiancée Katie Holmes a sonogram whenever he wants.
"I bought a sonogram machine," Cruise told Walters. "I am going to donate it to a hospital when we are done."
Taken aback, Walters said, "Wait, you are going to do your own sonogram?" "Yes," he replied, chuckling.
Experts were shocked.
"These machines create energy, sound waves. If used for short periods of time - not as a toy - it is safe. But there is some evidence that prolonged or repetitive ultrasounds can be dangerous," said Dr. Jacques Moritz, an obstetrician at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center.
A sonogram allows expectant parents to see an image of their unborn baby. The machines can cost up to $200,000.
Ob-gyns avoid exposing fetuses to the powerful high-frequency sound waves any more than necessary. The average woman may get two or three during the course of a pregnancy and each session lasts only about five or six minutes.
"There's a big sticker on mine that says, 'this machine is for diagnostic and not entertainment uses.' Frankly, I'm surprised someone sold him one. You have to be a licensed physician or technician to even buy one," Moritz said.
Cruise didn't say where he got it, or if he'll have trained technicians at home to help run it.
Brad Imler, president of American Pregnancy Association, said sonograms should always be performed by a doctor.
"It is a noninvasive procedure that is considered safe, but that's under a doctor's care," Imler said. "There's an absence of documentation about the safety of sonograms when performed frequently or over a long period of time."
The FDA has issued several warnings about the commercial keepsake sonogram outfits popping up in malls with names like Fetal Fotos and Womb with a View.
The sonogram saga is the latest weird twist in the overhyped Cruise-Holmes romance, which cynics suggest is all a publicity ploy.
More recently, Cruise made waves by announcing that his Scientology beliefs dictated that his starlet gal pal would have to give birth without drugs and in total silence.
Originally published on November 24, 2005
Says he's got sonogram gizmo for Katie
BY HELEN KENNEDY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tom Cruise thinks his unborn child is ready for a closeup - lots and lots of closeups.
The movie star told Barbara Walters in an upcoming interview that he bought himself the medical device to give pregnant fiancée Katie Holmes a sonogram whenever he wants.
"I bought a sonogram machine," Cruise told Walters. "I am going to donate it to a hospital when we are done."
Taken aback, Walters said, "Wait, you are going to do your own sonogram?" "Yes," he replied, chuckling.
Experts were shocked.
"These machines create energy, sound waves. If used for short periods of time - not as a toy - it is safe. But there is some evidence that prolonged or repetitive ultrasounds can be dangerous," said Dr. Jacques Moritz, an obstetrician at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center.
A sonogram allows expectant parents to see an image of their unborn baby. The machines can cost up to $200,000.
Ob-gyns avoid exposing fetuses to the powerful high-frequency sound waves any more than necessary. The average woman may get two or three during the course of a pregnancy and each session lasts only about five or six minutes.
"There's a big sticker on mine that says, 'this machine is for diagnostic and not entertainment uses.' Frankly, I'm surprised someone sold him one. You have to be a licensed physician or technician to even buy one," Moritz said.
Cruise didn't say where he got it, or if he'll have trained technicians at home to help run it.
Brad Imler, president of American Pregnancy Association, said sonograms should always be performed by a doctor.
"It is a noninvasive procedure that is considered safe, but that's under a doctor's care," Imler said. "There's an absence of documentation about the safety of sonograms when performed frequently or over a long period of time."
The FDA has issued several warnings about the commercial keepsake sonogram outfits popping up in malls with names like Fetal Fotos and Womb with a View.
The sonogram saga is the latest weird twist in the overhyped Cruise-Holmes romance, which cynics suggest is all a publicity ploy.
More recently, Cruise made waves by announcing that his Scientology beliefs dictated that his starlet gal pal would have to give birth without drugs and in total silence.
Originally published on November 24, 2005