Pregnancy Policy

Certain aspects of the Northwestern Health Sciences University curriculum may be potentially hazardous to the embryo or fetus. Therefore, it is the responsibility of NWHSU and affiliated clinical sites to take all practical steps to reduce your radiation exposure. It is your responsibility to decide whether to declare your pregnancy in writing and to make an informed decision whether the exposure you are receiving is low enough to protect your embryo or fetus.

Students that declare pregnancy have the right to withdraw their declaration in writing. The advice of NWHSU’s radiation safety officer or that of a health physicist should be obtained to determine whether radiation levels in your clinical working areas are high enough that an embryo or fetus could receive 0.5 rem or more before birth. If dose levels could exceed 0.5 rem there are several alternatives for you to consider: If you are pregnant or expect to be soon, you could decide not to accept or continue assignments in these areas.

You could reduce your exposure where possible by observing the basic rules of radiation safety:

Reducing the time you spend in a radiation area.
Increasing your distance from the source of radiation.
Proper use of shielding.

If you do become pregnant, you could ask your instructor to reassign you to areas involving less exposure to radiation. If this is not possible, we encourage you to leave the program until completion of the pregnancy. If you decide to take such steps, do so immediately. The embryo or fetus is most sensitive to radiation during the first three months of pregnancy.

You could delay having children until you no longer are working in areas where the radiation dose to your embryo or fetus could exceed 0.5 rem.
You may also choose to continue working in higher radiation areas, but with full awareness that you are doing so at some increased risk for your embryo or fetus.

Pregnant students have the following options to complete the program:

The student may elect to take a leave of absence. The program director will work with the student to assist in revising the course work plan. Students may take up to three semesters of leave throughout the program. Please see the university’s leave of absence policy in the academic catalog. This would result in a delay in graduation from the program since you need to be entry level skilled in all required areas as described in your clinical training handbook.
The student may elect to continue with the Program curriculum up to the time of delivery with no modifications given. In order to ensure the student completes all Program course requirements to include academic and clinical course objectives as well as clinical competencies, the student needs to contact the appropriate instructor to make arrangements for making up any time missed.

Please be aware of the following facts:

The first three months of pregnancy are the time of most risk to the embryo or fetus, so you should make your decision quickly. In most cases of occupational exposure, the actual dose received by the embryo or fetus is less than the dose received by the mother because the mother’s body absorbs some of the dose.

All students, during orientation must sign a statement stating they have read and understand U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission - appendix to the Regulatory Guide 8.13 - Possible Health Risks To Children Of Women Who Are Exposed To Radiation During Pregnancy. (See Appendix 1)

Purpose:

To ensure the safety of any student who is pregnant when training as an occupational worker in a radiation area.

Procedure:

During orientation, all students read U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission - appendix to the Regulatory Guide 8.13 - Possible Health Risks To Children Of Women Who Are Exposed To Radiation During Pregnancy.
Make a decision regarding declaration of pregnancy based on the previously stated alternatives
Complete an interview with the program chair to review the clinical schedule and determine what adjustments may need to be made.
Before starting clinical training read U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission - appendix to the Regulatory Guide 8.13 - Possible Health Risks To Children of Women Who Are Exposed To Radiation During Pregnancy.
When a pregnancy has been declared in writing to the program chair or radiation safety officer, a film badge will be issued to the student and will be worn at the level of the abdomen during the gestational period.