Where to go for nuchal fold scan in London?

[99redballoons]

Hi, I've got alot of information off this website. It looks like my options are the
-Harris Birthright Research Centre King's College Hospital
-the Fetal Medical Centre
-the Womens Ultrasound Centre

Has anyone been to any of these three? Is the Kings College Hospital easy to get to by tube (I would be coming from NW London)? Are there any others people would recommend or avoid?

Also, do you leave kids with someone or take them? Also, should dh be there or go by yourself?

Many thanks

the Harris is very well-regarded - Kypros Nicolaides developed the nuchal scan there. The Fetal Medical Centre is obviously a linked private facility.
King's College Hospital is not on the underground network, it is about 7 mins walk from Denmark Hill Railway station, itself about 10 mins overground from Victoria.
I have not been to any of these for my nuchals as my home hospital has offered them for years and I was happy to attend there.

Thx Marina. Very helpful.

The consultant at the Womens Ultrasound Centre is at Central Middlesex Hospital which I'm quite near to. However, I'm not sure at what age I can get them on the NHS. I am 34 atm and will be 35 when I have dc3. I can't seem to get that info anywhere!

I can highly recommend the fetal medicine centre-they were excellent.
Taking the kids isn't a problem either.

Another vote for FMC - you could go on your own, or take whole family, don't think they would mind.

I went to the fetal medicine centre with my second pregnancy and I was very impressed. They firstly took my bloods and then it was a very detailed scan with very clear equpment ( I could actually see the gender at 13 weeks). They talked through the scan and gave you your risk result straight away which was useful in case you wanted to opt for a CVS etc.

For my first NF scan I had to wait for about a week for the results which I found stressful.

With regards to taking children, in both places I visited I have seen people taking in their toddlers and people (like myself) who put them in nursery for the day. I would probably advise taking another adult with you if you take young children as if they become upset or lively you can't do a lot lying with jelly on your tummy.

Saying this, for a lot of my scans I have gone on my own without DH or DS at all and again, it wasn't unusual.

With regards to a free NF scan on the NHS it will depend on your area. In my first pregnancy you had to pay and go private unless you were over 37. For number 2 I could have opted for a free NF scan and age was not a factor - I did pay anyway as I knew I would need a CVS (funny blood) and wanted one immediately after the NF. Your GP or midwife could tell you very easily.

Is FMC by Regents Pk tube?

It is at the top of Harley street. I walked from Oxford circus tube and it was about 10 minutes. I think Regents park is closer but any one of Oxford circus, Bond street or Regents Park would be walk-able.

Thx all for the info. Will give them a ring.

I also highly recommend the Fetal Medicine Centre. I went there for my nuchal scan and they were just fab and you get the results there on the spot. The people who work there are all lovely and they are very thorough and talk you through everything that is going on and explain everything to you, they do not rush your appointment and are happy to answer all questions. The equipment they use is state of the art and they are among the top research places in the world for fetal medicine. Plus any fees you pay goes staight back into research as they are actually a registered charity as well, which is always a nice thing to know your money goes to good use. The nearest tubes are Regents Park, Great Portland Street and Baker Street. Just as a tip, Wednesdays are extremely busy so if you can you might want to try to get in on a different day. Also, bring a snack along b/c even on other days of the week they can get very busy and you might need to wait a while. I took my DH with for the scan and I am very happy he was with me, firstly b/c it was important to me and him for him to be with me and secondly, on a more mundane level b/c I would have been so bored waiting for my appointment on my own, so I'd say bring yours along too. If you have children I would not bring them with mostly because the wait can be quite long and the people in the waiting room who had kids there spent most of their time trying to get them to stop crying or getting very fidgety during the wait. Plus keep in mind that unfortunately not everyone's scan brings good news and altho the risk of this is very small, it's still a consideration to keep in mind as to whether you would want to have your other children present should, God forbid, something not be 100% ok. For these reasons, personally I would not bring other children with. I think if you go with the FMC you will be very pleased, they were really wonderful there, so much so that we decided to go there for our 20 week scan. Good luck with it all!

Hi PL, thx for the info. The question about kids is I have two under 4 and I'm not sure my mil would be able to mind them both together for a significant part of the day (takes about 40mins just to get into London then the time there and then the time home again), so the only real choices we have is for dh to mind them at home or the four of us go to FMC. I'm sure we'll work it out. Ds is watching tikkabilla and dd is asleep so I will ring them now!

Hello

Just to say, I had my nuchal and cvs at Harris Birthright at Kings yesterday and they were very good - the doctor that did my cvs also works at the fetal medicine centre - effectively they are the same place really I think - just one is nhs and one is private so you pay - same equipment, staff, research etc. I too found out the sex from the nuchal scan at 12 weeks and 2 days which I thought was amazing! The machines must have got better since my last baby 2 years ago. Just a thought though - if you are worried about taking the kids - there were at least 6 or 7 couples there when I was there with toddlers so you really wouldn't stand out I don't think and they had a little childrens play area. I understand the sensitivity thing for couples receiving bad news but you really wouldn't stand out at Kings. Maybe this would be the case at the FMC as well? - they seem like a friendly lot. Good Luck.

Somebody said this earlier but it is also really worth asking your GP / MW. For this pg I decided that I would have a nf scan and when I mentioned this to my GP he said that the surgery now pay for women over 30(this was not the case last time) and so they referred me to UCL- Can't fault the service I got there - it's an old hospital but state of the art technology. The doctor who did the scan pretty much gave me a result there and then but i had to wait a week for the results because of the blood test. Have also found out that Barnet Hospital (where i will be giving birth) are now almost at the stage of offering nf scans.

Kings is brilliant - it's a teaching hospital and its radiographers are the best around. You can take the tube to Elephant and Castle and the bus (63) straight to Kings from there, or its a short walk from Denmark Hill BR, as someone mentioned. On the down side, it's also oversubscribed so be prepared for a long wait when you arrive!