During a radiation emergency, people may be exposed to large amounts of “high energy” radiation – much more than we get from everyday exposure like x-rays. Exposure to large amounts of high energy radiation or “ionizing radiation,” can cause harmful health effects in people. A developing fetus is especially sensitive to radiation exposure, particularly in the early stages of pregnancy. Other videos focused on possible health effects of radiation emergencies can be found here: http://emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/protectiveactions.asp Comments on this video are allowed in accordance with our comment policy: http://www.cdc.gov/SocialMedia/Tools/CommentPolicy.html This video can also be viewed at http://www.cdc.gov/wcms/videos/low-res/NCEH/2015/prenatal_radiation_exposure_922308.mp4