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🇱🇹 Lithuania /Health & Science

Smiltėja Žlabienė Avoids Ultrasounds During Pregnancy, Saying They Could Harm DNA

From Delfi · () Lithuanian

Translated from Lithuanian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Smiltėja Žlabienė says she avoids pregnancy ultrasounds after an initial scan because she believes they could negatively affect DNA structure.
  • The debate follows scrutiny of the Žlabis family after their two-month-old daughter died and child-protection officials sought to remove their other children.
  • A child gastroenterologist and a child psychiatrist criticize the family’s approach, while all six children ultimately remain with the family after an assessment.

Smiltėja Žlabienė says she has ultrasound examinations only once during pregnancy, at the beginning, to confirm the pregnancy. She rejects further scans because she believes ultrasound can have a negative effect, even on DNA structure.

I do not have an ultrasound during pregnancy. Only once at the beginning, to confirm the pregnancy. This is my decision because I know about the negative effects of ultrasound. It can even have a negative effect on DNA structure.

· Smiltėja ŽlabienėShe explains why she avoids routine ultrasound examinations during pregnancy.

Her comments will feature in the Lithuanian television debate program “For or Against?”, which asks whether children belong primarily to their families or to the state. The program also examines when a family’s lifestyle remains a private matter and when public authorities must intervene.

The debate has been fueled by the Žlabis family’s widely discussed history. After their two-month-old daughter died, the Child Rights Protection Service sought to remove all the family’s children. The family has attracted scrutiny because Žlabienė gave birth to all her children at home, rejects vaccinations and educates the children at home rather than sending them to a conventional school.

Then let’s not live with dolphins either, because they emit ultrasound, and let’s not use microwave ovens.

· Vaidas UrbonasThe child gastroenterologist responds sarcastically to Žlabienė’s claim about ultrasound.

Some people have said the children lacked enough food and were often hungry. Others described the family as raw-food followers or said they avoided medical services. All six children remained with the family after an assessment, but Žlabienė continues to describe the child-protection service’s involvement as an attack on the family.

The state should have intervened long ago and provided help to the family. I am not saying the children should be taken away, but they need help, and for some reason Mrs. Žlabienė calls that help an attack.

· Linas SlušnysThe child psychiatrist argues for state support without necessarily removing the children.

Child gastroenterologist Vaidas Urbonas responds skeptically to her view of ultrasound, while child psychiatrist Linas Slušnys says the state should have intervened earlier to provide assistance. Meditation practitioner Simona Kupetienė says the case has made some people in her circle afraid to have children in Lithuania. Asta Geštautaitė, who grew up in a Jehovah’s Witness family, argues that parents should not impose their way of life on children and that children should be free to choose what suits them.

That life lived differently, and imposing your lifestyle on children, does not lead to anything good.

· Asta GeštautaitėShe criticizes the family’s choices and the imposition of parental beliefs on children.
About this summary

Originally published by Delfi in Lithuanian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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