Purpose or Case Report: To describe the fluoroscopic practice patterns during pregnancy in pediatric radiologists and potential impact on professional relationships and career.
Methods & Materials: An anonymous online survey was sent to SPR members via email.
Results: Of 398 responses (65% female, 35% male), most females (78%) reported being pregnant while practicing radiology. The majority (72%) announced their pregnancy during the first trimester. Factors affecting the timing and decision to announce pregnancy included fear of miscarriage (43%), impact of co-workers having to perform extra work during maternity leave (42%), impact of co-workers having to perform extra fluoroscopy during pregnancy (32%), negative reaction from co-workers (22%), and fear of negative impact on career (21%).

The majority (85%) performed fluoroscopy during pregnancy. Forty percent felt they had a choice whether to perform fluoroscopy; 28% said it depended on the pregnancy; and 32% felt they had no choice. Most performed fluoroscopy during all 3 trimesters (1st 78%, 2nd 90%, 3rd 87%). The majority (81%) double leaded; 45% asked a coworker to cover fluoroscopy; 38% observed trainees performing fluoroscopy; 37% used a lead shield. Forty-six percent felt their fluoroscopic responsibilities during pregnancy were stressful. Physical demands included lead aprons being too heavy (42%) or not fitting (29%), and back pain (38%), and 26% described no extra physical demands.

Of all male and female survey respondents, 56% have had to cover fluoroscopy for a pregnant co-worker; a majority (76%) did not consider this burdensome. Twenty percent of women who opted to perform less fluoroscopy felt it negatively impacted their professional relationships and/or career. After witnessing a pregnant co-worker perform less fluoroscopy,16% of female and 0.04% of male respondents observed a subsequent negative impact on her professional relationships and/or career.
Conclusions: The majority of responding SPR female members have performed fluoroscopy during pregnancy. Of the respondents who performed less fluoroscopy during pregnancy, twenty percent reported a negative impact on their professional relationships and/or career. Interestingly, even fewer respondents reported witnessing a negative impact on a co-worker with significant differences in male and female responses. The negative impact of avoiding fluoroscopy during pregnancy is either under-discussed or over-estimated by pregnant radiologists.