The ethics of pregnancy testing

Anaesthesia, surgery and ionizing radiation may all prove harmful to an undetected pregnancy. Elective procedures should be deferred at least until the second trimester to reduce the risk of teratogenicity or spontaneous abortion. If surgery cannot be delayed, anaesthetic or surgical techniques can be modified, and the use of intraoperative ionizing radiation avoided where possible. Determination of pregnancy status is mandated by current national guidelines prior to any procedure that may compromise the mother or fetus. In the vast majority of cases where the patient has the capacity to consent there are no ethical or clinical dilemmas. However, girls under the age of 16 years have differing levels of capacity resulting in various ethical concerns. Guidelines produced by the Royal College of Paediatric and Child Health provide a template to ensure departments maintain national standards, protecting patients from harm whilst assuring patient confidentiality and autonomy are respected.