Mumsnet Talk

We went to Baby Scan Clinic on Harley Street using a Groupon voucher for a '4D' scan that cost £99, a supposed saving of £150. I have to say it was a disappointing experience.
We'd originally booked for 6.45pm but the clinic moved our appointment to 6pm, which meant my husband had to leave work early in Egham. He arrived on time, having run from the Tube, only for us to find no-one on reception to answer the door or take calls or pick up an ansaphone message or (resorted to in desperation) answer an email.
We waited for over ten minutes before other clients were leaving and we were able to gain access. The ultrasound operator was perfectly pleasant, but seemed non-plussed that we had been left waiting and shrugged her shoulders at the absence of a receptionist. We then had to wait for her to set up to start the session.
The technology was also disappointing. It was almost impossible to work out what we were looking at in the images. I appreciate that our baby wasn't positioned to facilitate good images - he was facing towards my spine - but I would have expected that we would have been able to see clearly the baby's shape and physiology. Apart from one image of the baby's face, turned in towards the womb wall, and a couple of others of a (dismembered and incomplete!) leg and foot, I wouldn't be able to tell what the images show if it weren't for the label added by the operator, such is the degree of shadowing and the way the images are cropped and angled.
The DVD was also disappointing, not only because the images were similarly hard to understand, but because most of the screen view is made up of the ultrasound scanner's monitor with the image of the baby just a small part of that.
The photo printer wasn't working so the operator undertook to send the photos to us the next day. These actually took several days to arrive and my name has been badly mispelt, which makes them even more disappointing. We never received an apology for having been kept waiting on the doorstep and received no response to the email I sent afterwards expressing our disappointment.
Cheap for a reason?!

I'm booked for an early scan at the FMC on Friday, does anyone know if you get a picture to take home?

AliW - my husband and I also went to the Baby Scan Clinic today with the Groupon offer and I've come away feeling a bit disappointed. I think Bubba was slightly in the wrong position too and was hiding under my placenta, apparently. Again the operator was perfectly pleasant and did offer some explanation as to what we were looking at but we don't have a clear image of Bubba's face in any of the photos (he also spent a lot of time holding his hands up to his mouth / ear) and just feel a bit let down. In fact it just looks like an alien child.

There wasn't too much effort to stop the scan and encourage Bubba to move into a different position - nor do they offer rescans if Bubba is in the wrong place, unlike some places I've just been reading about.

I feel a bit like I've wasted my money, although on the two hospital anomaly scans I've already had Bubba also wasn't in a good position either and took a bit of shaking to make sure all the checks were done!

Since posting my message on 8th May, I've been contacted by the Baby Scan Clinic who have apologised for the disappointing experience, undertaken to investigate the matter to ensure anything similar doesn't happen again and have issued a full refund.

Interesting to see this, I really relate!! Was kept waiting for over 1/2 hour today because the DVD burner wasn't working properly and taking longer than normal.

The quality of the scanning really wasn't as good as I had hoped, baby was not playing ball but still! The sonographer did suggest moving around but not cold water or anything else. I was also accurately aware that I was making the people in the next slot even more delayed after my husband had to leave to get back to work.

I couldn't buy the pictures of a usb key as they didn't have any and the printed pictures are not the A5 glossy prints I imagined - and most of them are just duplicates.

The boss did apologise but would not agree to rescan for free in person so I have to await his email....

Well this is all very interesting as we did the same babyscan groupon voucher only yesterday and had a very similar experience....

We live far away from Harley Steeet and it took over two hours in solid London traffic to get to the appointment. Baby was in a difficult position and the sonographer wasn't able to get a picture of her face at all. I was so disapointed with the whole procedure as most of the scanning is done in 2d black and white as per regulation nhs scans. Occasionally she would change the view to 3d mode but when this happened it just looked like a twirled up piece of orange plasticine - not recognisable as a baby at all.. Also no explanation of what it was that she was showing us was given - I had to ask constantly. She just didn't seem bothered or concerned that we hadn't had the magical experience that was promised.

Fair enough I can understand that baby wasn't in the 'prime' position for a picture of the face but the lady was going to send us away to have a think about having a rescan (at an extra cost of £50) I had to ask if she could see any other parts like a leg,foot or hand etc..... Just anything that resembled a human part really....Then she scanned in on something that she explained was a leg (looks nothing like a leg to us)....I was so disapointed.... I felt so let down. We were sent away with one image of a strange looking leg and a picture of baby's heart beat in black and white. The DVD is appalling and you just can't make anything out at all. It's nothing like any of the pics on their website. I am 28 weeks today and the lady said its probably because baby doesn't have much room to move around now - although this scan was recommended for anyone up to 32 weeks. We already have a little boy and as this baby is a little girl we won't be having any more so I really feel as though I have missed out on a wonderful experience that I'll never get the chance to have again:-(

I am going to write a letter of complaint today and hope like Aliw68 we manage to get a full refund. I may look into having another done elsewhere - does anyone know anywhere near Reigate in Surrey?

Since writing my last message expressing my dissapointing 3d scan at babyscan I have received a full refund.

Im very sorry to hear you ladies werent happy with your experience at baby scan clinic in harley street

But I had an amazing experience with them. I live outside of London so had to get the train in, tube, then a little walk from the tube station.
I was greeted a very nice receptionist, filled in my forms & after a very short wait was taken upstairs to the scan room.
Big, bright, clean and perfectly good.

The sonographer was really cheery & explained what we were seeing. Baby was in a perfect position for a 4D scan.
We firstly were asked if we wanted to know the sex - which we did and was shown the 'potty' shot and explained the anatomy down there! We were comfirmed it was a girl!

We then spent a while watching baby yawn, eat her hands, stretch and pull various faces. Even the sonographer was saying awww and smiling along with us! Was amazing to see. She looks spitting image of her brother was like looking at him so cant wait until she arrives

We were shown legs, feet, belly, heart beating, parts measured and apparently shes got long legs, unlike mummy! We were told estimated weight & seems we are having another tiddler

I bought the dvd with all photos on disc. So many brilliant images that I have printed and framed now. I did have to wait about 15 mins after scan, sitting in the gorgeous reception area for my disc to be burned and photos printed but whats a short wait when your getting such an amazing experience?!

Highly suggest using them and if you get the £99 groupon offer like I did then bargain!

Like the lady above, I had an excellent 4d scan experience at The Baby Scan Clinic in Harley Street, London, using an offer we found online for £99.00. We were made to feel more than welcome and the sonographer was lovely, explaining which parts were which etc.

I don't really understand why some ladies are complaining, especially when you're baby is in the wrong position- that's nothing to do with the clinic. When filling out the forms at the beginning, it is made perfectly clear that the scans are for entertainment.

I would most DEFINITELY recommend The Baby Scan Clinic to anyone, I had a 100% positive experience.

We had a 3/4d scan at The Baby Scan Clinic on Harley Street last week. It was a wonderful experience and we got some amazing pictures and a lovely DVD. For the £99 we paid it was well worth it. I know people that have paid a lot more and come out with a lot less elsewhere.

I cannot recommened the clinic enough, it was clean and friendly and the staff were very accomodating. The sonographer in particular was really nice and she talked us through everything and seemed just as excited to see our baby on screen as we were!

XxX

Has anyone really managed to get any quality footage of their baby moving, in the way the adverts from this clinic suggest or is it all some big scam? I went to the Baby Scan Clinic in Harley street in December using a special discount voucher and was totally disappointed with the results. I didn’t even bother to take the pictures they offered as it was impossible to identify anything on them – as mentioned in other posts.
I felt that the sonographer on duty made little effort to help. After barely 5 minutes of the session starting she was already offering me a rescan (for an additional £50!) on the basis that the baby was not in the right position. I know from my normal scan sessions at the hospital that you can encourage the baby to reposition itself, but she made little effort to help move the baby. She didn’t offer me a drink of water or anything to eat – i.e. “tricks” they use at the hospital scanning sessions. I was having to make suggestions on what could and could not work. All she seemed to say was “I don’t know. Maybe”. She looked disinterested and unhelpful throughout.
I complained at the time and received an email reply from the clinic. But it just seems to be a standard email response addressing general issues many other customers have probably raised. It was both inaccurate (claiming that they did all they could on the day) and full of spelling mistakes – which hints at the overall quality of this company.
I see that many such clinics offer a complimentary rescan if the first one is unsuccessful, but this one was more interested in recovering the money it lost by offering a discount.
A total waste of time and money.

I went to see Dr Vera Medic at 73 Harley street (www.4dbabyscanslondon.com) and had excellent experience with lovely 3 d images and DVD for special price of £99.
I did ask before scan what would happen if baby was not in the right position and was told could come back for a re-scan, free of charge.
thankfully, my son was happy to 'pose' for us, so we got some very good images
it was very professional - with check up of baby's organs, position and all the measurements, as well as some very good 3 d pictures
Very nice place and friendly staff, warmly recommended

You will get a scan image from the FMC. I've been there twice with both pregnancies for an early scan. Recommend them.