Private scan

[Kaytee1987]

Hey I'm planning to go for a private scan when I'm 9/10 weeks pregnant at Nuffield hospital as I can't wait for my nhs one lol. Does anyone know what they check for at a private scan, is it as detailed as an nhs one? I want to tell family on Christmas day about the pregnancy hence the early scan x

I found them more detailed. The NHS ones were quick in and out, they didn't tell me anything other than "your baby is fine" unless I asked, and were very clinical.

My private scans were lovely, she took 45 minutes and showed me everything, told me how many baby was, what he was doing, I could have as many people in the room as I wanted (The NHS only let me have one), nothing was too much trouble, they were amazing.

I had one at 6 weeks, 16 weeks and 28 weeks. Id definitely recommend

I had a scan at 9weeks due to bleeding. There really wasn't much to see just a blob with a heartbeat.

From my experience, there will not be very much they can check this early, other than how many babies are present and if there is a heartbeat.

I suppose it depends on the person giving you the scan then. All I really want to know is that all is ok so I can tell our families on Christmas day. I could go earlier that 9/10 weeks but don't particularly want an internal scan and want to leave it as late as possible before announcing xx

I had one at 8 weeks also because I could not wait! There really wasn't a lot to see, just a blob with a heartbeat. The sonographer was lovely and spent time pointing out which end was the head, which was the bum (no way I would have been able to see!), where the yolk sac was etc but as others have said there isn't much to check other than the length which confirms the dates. The pictures were nothing to write home about either! The difference between that and the NHS scan 4 weeks later was incredible - by then it was a proper baby!

Hi, I had a private "viability" scan at 9 weeks. It's very short. They measured the baby (just looks like a jelly bean) and checked for a heart beat. They confirmed there was a baby and progressing according to dates.

Don't expect too much, but it will allow you to tell family (same reason I did the scan).

I've also had private scans at 11, 13 and 20 weeks and they are far more detailed! Definitely more time spent than the NHS one and showed me more of the baby and development. My 20 week one was incredible.

Hope this helps

I had a private viability scan at 7 weeks as was unsure of my dates and needed to know how far I was. It was external. I think most clinics ask you to come back the week after rather than offer an internal one (as it's a personal rather than medical screen). I just drank loads of water before! He was a blob with a heartbeat!

I had a private scan at 10 weeks. Wasn't detailed at all - just confirmed it was only one baby, and was measuring ok for dates.

Would I do it again? No. I'd save the much-needed cash and wait a few weeks!

The recommendation to tell people after 12 weeks has more to do with miscarriage stats then the scan itself i.e. the odds go down significantly after 11/12 weeks. If you want to tell them sooner, that's your prerogative, and I guess the reason why people don't is more to do with self protection against awkward questions 'just in case'. If this isn't an issue for you, then you probably don't really need a scan. Still if you can afford it and want it, then why not?

Contrary to a few experiences here, my nhs 12 week scan was lovely. The techs took their time, and I saw my little bun move around and had a few different images taken, got shown the heart and played the heartbeat and had a bit of a happy cry :) I wouldn't have wanted anyone other then my hubby in their as it was so personal to us.

No idea what a private scan would be like in contrast, but i would imagine the difference is more between hospitals and whomever is conducting the scan as opposed to private vs nhs.

Hi Kaytee1987 - I am going for a private 'dating' scan at the weekend, I booked it before I saw my GP and they offered me and NHS early scan for dating (because I can't accurately pinpoint start date) as I didn't know they would offer and thought they would wait until I was about 12 weeks to scan for the first time - which I am way to impatient for!

Mainly doing it for the dating reason but also for some peace of mind, and will probably tell close people after and make it more common knowledge near Xmas when I think I'll be about 12 weeks.

My 9 week scan ended up being internal as I have an anterior placenta. So if you want to avoid an internal scan you might need to hang on.