Q: Are chest x-rays safe during pregnancy?

A: Most of the time the risk to your baby from diagnostic radiation is so small that most doctors would treat your pregnancy just like any other pregnancy. If you're really worried about your baby's risk, a radiation physicist can figure out exactly how much radiation your baby has been exposed to. Usually, an unborn baby shouldn't be exposed to more than 5 rad, and a chest x-ray has usually less that 1 rad.

Because most x-rays cause much less radiation than 5 rads, talk with your doctor to see if it will even help to find out the exact number of rads your baby was exposed to. 

Some women are so afraid of radiation that they want to have an abortion after a single x-ray. This isn't necessary. The risks are so small, it's not necessary to have an abortion just because you had an x-ray during pregnancy.