Private scans

[Urchin]

Hi
Has anyone here had to pay for a private scan?
With my hospital, I only get one dating scan, which is booked for 13th May.

If I want a nuchal scan I have to pay £180, if I want to find out the sex of the baby, I have to pay another £180 later on.
Has anyone here had a nuchal scan?
Was it worth it?
Did it give you the peace of mind you wanted?

 

[catherine23]

is that the 3D/4D scan? yeah you have to pay for them as the NHS dont do those yet!
are you witht he NHS? you should be having 2 scans though they dont book it until nearer the time though i only have my 12 weeks dating scan booked. then there the 20 weeks scan just to check the size of the baby and defects etc. I cant see why they wouldnt do it.
who told you this your midwife?

 

[Ragna]

Hiya

Here in Milton Keynes you get 2 scans, one at 12 weeks and one at 20 weeks. Was pretty fed up to find out that they will not tell you the sex of the baby. The Nuchal Scan is basically from what i can work out taking the place of an amnio as it will tell you whether your baby has a good chance of downs. You can also only have this form a certain time...and you will have to pay for this Scan ..around £150 all over the country.

I suppose it depends on what your blood tests says, whether you are high risk as to whether you would go ahead. Me personally...Im 40 so will be very high risk anyway, would not abort whatever was wrong..so I will not be having those scans.

Good Luck with your pregnancy xxxxxxx

 

[littlebump]

Hiya

As far as I understand, it is dependent on hospital policy. I was fortunate enough to have a scan at 12 weeks and have a second scan booked at 22 weeks, however many hospitals only offer one scan between 16 and 20 weeks. In this case, if you want a nuchal scan you have to have it done privately (a few friends of mine have had them at a cost of around £150).

In my case, the nuchal scan was offered at the 12 week scan stage, but was optional. They take measurements of the baby (something to do with the neck I think) and re-calculate your personal risk based on those measurements. The scan does not guarantee anything, but allows you to make a more informed decision as to whether you wish to have more invasive tests to find out (which I believe carry around a 1% the risk of miscarriage).

Hope this helps

LB xx

 

[Urchin]

Yes sorry I should have been more specific, my hospital only offer the dating scan. Apparently to cut costs but I'm not happy as when I had my son 3 years ago they did more.

I have spoken more with my hubby about it and we will not be having the nuchal scan, but will have the 4D scan later and possibly find out the sex then.

The NHS do offer the triple blood test later, so we'll probably go for that too.

 

[newbump]

The Nuchal Scan is to test for Downs Syndrome, which can carry a very small chance of miscarriage. As far as I have been told they are private, however, you can have the barts test at 16 weeks, which you have done at the hospital, not as informative as the Nuchal but still gives you a very good idea.

I am having my first scan 11th May and then another one when i am 16 weeks, at least thats what my maternity notes say! I am going to be at Worthing hospital for mine, although Im not bothered if they wont tell me the sex of the baby as i dont want to know anyway! I want to have some kind of surprise after going through labour!!!

Natalie

 

[Manda]

The Nuchal scan is just like a normal ultra sound you also have a blood test done, at the scan they measure the fluid on the back of the neck and they measure something not sure what in the blood then look at both results this does NOT carry any risk off miscarriage, i asked before having it done as i have had a problem pregnancy and didn't want any further risks, however if your results come back as high risk you will then be offered further test which are more invasive and do increase your risk of miscarriage by 1%.

I had the scan done at 13 weeks and didn't have to pay for it, i wasn't going to have any tests done as i wouldn't be able to abort the baby if anything was wrong anyway, the only reason i had it done was i'd had heavy bleeding and passed a lot of tissue at 11 weeks, when i went to hospital baby was fine but i continued bleeding for a further 2 weeks so i wanted the scan done to see if baby was still ok, the only way i could get it done free was to have the Nuchal test done so thats what i did, and although i wasn't concerned about the results i'm happy to say there's no increased risk of neural tube defects

I would say if you have to pay for it think would you be able to abort baby if you are at increased risk? if not don't have it done, also some people that are at an increased risk go on to have healthy babys which is why the more invasive tests are done as they are more acurate.