Private scans

[BikeRunSki]

I am not normally into private anything, but had my 20 wk scan today and sonographer could not tell what gender the baby was. I realise of course, that this is not the point of the 20 wk scan, and I am very pleased and happy to know that bubba is healthy and the sonographer saw nothing untoward (especially since I am over 40).

However, this is DC2 and DH and I found out what we were having at 20 weeks with DS, and we always said that we would find out for DC2. Apart from anything else, we want to prepare DS. He has repeatedly asked for a brother, so there may be some expectation management to do here.

I've been googling private scans. All the private scan providers seem to be national chains at similar prices.

Are they pretty much all similar?
Anyone had any good or bad experiences of particular provider?
Anyone recommend any providers?

We are in S/W Yorkshire, between Barnsley, Wakefield and Huddersfield if this helps, and can travel quite easily to Leeds and Sheffield.

I'm based down south in St Albans, and a sexing scan here costs £75 - £100 at the local clinic - just so you know what a London weighted price looks like! From the blurb it says that if they're not able to tell the sex at the scan they'll give you another for free which sounds good.

Another thing to consider is whether to wait another few weeks and have a 4D scan to tell the sex instead?

Hi 'Ski,

I had a private scan with Spire hospital in Bristol at 12 weeks for the Nuchal fold test which involved a scan. We didn't want to know the sex but comparing the equipment they used with the kit the NHS had, and the quality of the photos we were given, I'd say a private scan would probably have a lot clearer image in order for them to tell you the sex of your DC. (Either that or Bristol NHS are using scanners from the dark ages!)

Not sure if Spire are a national hospital, but I'd say if you're really keen to get a closer look and can afford it, I'd go for a private scan. We were given the photos on a memory stick and quite a few paper copies, and they spent a lot of time with us showing us DD's legs, hands, eyes etc (our first baby) so I was chuffed with what I got for my £200.

The clinic I had my viability scan at (Fareham, Hampshire) only charges £50 for sexing scans...
I know my location isn't particularly helpful but worth seeing if you can get local recommendations from friends or perhaps on here as the prices do seem to vary considerably between chain & independant clinics :)

Spire Hospital have a branch in Leeds (2 in fact) and seem to only charge around £50 for a gender scan too.

Baby bond (www.babybond.com) do scans, including gender scans. £79 and locations in the north. We had a 10 week reassurance scan with them in Manchester and they were fine. They display the scan using a projector onto the wall so much easier to see. The sonographer wasn't the friendliest of people, but wasn't unprofessional.

Good luck!