Fetal Medicine Centre

[Gizmo2206]

I was wondering if anybody was able to share their experiences at the Fetal Medicine Centre on Harley Street with me.

I had a distressing experience and wondered if mine was an unusual situation, as other posts I had read beforehand were really positive.

Oh I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience. Mine was fine, although I did find the sonographer pushed quite hard to get the scan, my tummy was sore for a few days after. Otherwise fine.
What happened?

I had my 12 and 20 week scan with them (and a reassurance scan at 16 weeks) and thought they were amazing. I went there because I'd had previous distressing experiences with NHS sonographers.

Are you ok Gizmo?

They normally have a good reputation and were fine with us. Sorry to hear you had a bad time. What happened?

I've been there twice for early scans. Both times excellent experiences. Hope you're ok op

Thanks for the replies, I am pleased to say this was months ago and my baby is here and amazing! But it has massively played on my mind the things that were said to me.

I was there last week - in general the setting etc was lovely but neither I nor my oh found the sonographer very reassuring. Polite and professional yes, but not warm. My pregnancy is showing two weeks behind where I thought I was, indicating a mix up with dates on my part or a mmc. It was quite a quick... 'Hmmm are you sure of your dates' as she scanned my tummy, then a very quick turnaround for an internal scan which she took some measurements during, but didn't really explain. By this point I was evidently very concerned (tearful) and would have appreciated a bit more warmth and gentle reassurance about what she was looking for. When the scan had finished I found it very hard to take in what was being said afterwards and wasn't in a state to think of an sensible questions to ask. It was very brief. In hindsight both myself and my oh felt the lady who saw us could have taken a little more time to question my dates/when symptoms started etc to try and clarify a few things and perhaps anticipate a few of the questions we were likely to have once we had recovered a bit. At the time she was politely sympathetic but seemed very keen to allow me to fill in the blanks and go. We were only offered a private place to wait for our written report after they realised I and my oh had shrunk around a corner trying to hide my tears from the other women, who I didn't want to make feel awkward.
Perhaps our sonographer was maintaining a professional distance/ didn't want to give false hope etc, which I understand but equally a softer bedside manner would have made things a lot less traumatic. I am anxious about going back this week for a follow up. Her written report read much more positively than her brief verbal one.

I don't have another experience to compare it to, perhaps mine was the norm private or not. Hope that helps a bit.

Ktkaye I had a similar thing in my pregnancy at my local epu (early on in my pregnancy, where the baby had a heartbeat but was measuring 3mm (whereas it should have been 5mm I think, I cant fully remember) any ways it made me at least a week less than I knew I was, so I thought the worst and was very upset and they were kind, but not really reassuring in the epu, I went back two weeks later and baby had caught up, and was now measuring correct.

How many weeks are you?

Hi Gizmo, perhaps it is standard for healthcare professionals to err on the side of caution then. I admit that I just wanted her to tell me this happens loads and not to worry yet! Which isn't really in her remit to do, she is a clinician after all and did give me a clinical picture. I started a thread on the topic on MN and got some lovely responses which helped.
I thought I was 7 weeks (based on lmp) but measured at 3.3mm which is somewhere in the 5 week mark. Fingers crossed Friday shows some growth. I could very well have got muddled with when I ovulated - I wasn't tracking that really.

Pleased to hear that your lo caught up. It's terrifying isn't it?! May I ask what prompted you to post about FMC in the first place? X

I had a very good experience there. I had the Harmony test, 12, 20 and 28 week scans there.

We had 2 scans and the harmony test there and were very impressed. The staff were great and spent an incredible amount of time on our scans so I felt we spent ages with our baby which after having a MMC this year was incredibly reassuring.

We are thinking of having a scan there at 20 weeks as it was so good.

Sorry you had a bad experience, frustrating when you've paid for a private service.

ktkaye sorry you had that experience. Was your sonographer Eastern European? Just that I had someone with the same manner but everything was ok so it didn't bother me. She could've been warmer and spoke more though

I'm not sure of her nationality but she spoke with an accent. I feel a bit guilty now - she didn't do anything wrong at all, I guess the situation was stressful and that has coloured everything a bit. Also my only other contact with health care professionals has been growing up in a rural area where my GP had known me most of my life. The two can't really compare! I'm both anxious and interested to have my return visit.

Well at least on the plus side I didn't get charged!