Karnataka: Husbands, relatives banned from ultrasound rooms in hospitals

Bengaluru: Relatives, including husbands of pregnant women, will now be strictly barred from entering the ultrasound room in genetic counselling centres, clinics, or hospitals in the state registered under the PC-PNDT Act.

A recently issued circular from the Karnataka State Health and Family Welfare Services, accessed by DH, stated that authorities have noted instances where relatives of pregnant women recorded videos and took photographs of ultrasounds to determine the sex of the foetus, and shared the footage on public platforms.

Some ultrasound rooms also had extra monitors, allowing family members to view the procedure as well.

This, the circular notes, is in violation of section 5 sub-section 2 and section 4 sub-section 4 of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) Act.

The Act’s sub-section 2 of section 5 notes: “No person, including the person conducting pre-natal diagnostic procedures, shall communicate to the pregnant woman concerned or her relatives or any other person the sex of the foetus by words, signs or in any other manner.”

Section 4 sub-section 4 states that no person, including a relative or husband of the pregnant woman, shall seek or encourage the conduct of any pre-natal diagnostic techniques on her for the purposes other than the detection of chromosomal abnormalities, haemoglobinopathies, genetic diseases or any congenital abnormalities.

To ensure effective implementation of the PC-PNDT Act, the circular specifies that ultrasound rooms must prominently display signs at the entrance, stating that only the pregnant woman is permitted to enter.

Genetic clinics, laboratories, and counselling centres registered under the PC-PNDT Act are also prohibited from installing extra monitors. The department also warned of strict action against the violators of the rules.