"Private baby scans show 'incredibly poor practice'"

[CoalCraft]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54527595

I've never personally been to a private scan so am not directly affected, but thought I would link for active who hasn't seen and might want to know.

For me it suggests that private scans are fine if you've already had an NHS scan and just want to see baby again, maybe take sometime with you to see, but should not be used for reassurance in place of seeing your midwife if you think something might be wrong. Very sad to see the chat group discussing observed foetal hydrops that they did not tell the parents about.

Thank you for posting this. I'm 5 weeks pregnant and was contemplating booking a private scan at some point over the coming weeks, but this has made me reconsider.

It's a shame that NHS doesn't routinely offer scans around the 8/9 week mark - it's standard in France, where I spent my first trimester last time round. 12 weeks seems like forever to wait and I can't help but worry.

It does seem that there needs to be greater regulation around these clinics, specifically their duty of care regarding the health of the mother and baby.

If they're not able to 'diagnose' (as per the Whatsapp chat) then they need to be very explicit in how they describe their services. They're not offering 'reassurance' scans, they're not able to confirm that 'everything looks fine', they're not even able to confirm that the baby's heartbeat is okay in medical terms.

I'm sure that this franchise was very keen to blame one rogue sonographer, but it was them that employed her without qualifications and then talked to the press about 'best practice'. There should be clear policies and procedures around health care, physical and psychological, not woolly 'best practice'.

Unfortunately, NHS provision is inadequate not least because imvhe it fails to take into account the psychological needs of the mother. There needs to be more provision in early pregnancy for women in the situation that pp describes, when she knew that something was wrong and needed to know asap.

I think there probably needs to be tighter regulation of these clinics, but it sounds like there's a very ready market for them, so that would probably meet with a lot of resistance.

@Nimsay1

That article needs to be taken with a punch of salt, as with everything in the media. They even mention that many of the women that they spoke to has nothing but positive things to say, but then give one example of a women having a bad experience.

Having had 5 miscarriages, I've had lots of private scans over the last 4 years and I've had nothing but good experiences- in some case I've been provided with more accurate information than at NHS scans. It's sad that some women have had bad experiences, but I would imagine they are very much in the minority.

The article actually mentions two examples plus a list of further failings they uncovered. The actual report has many, many more sadly.

@Nell96

Thank you for posting this. I'm 5 weeks pregnant and was contemplating booking a private scan at some point over the coming weeks, but this has made me reconsider.

It's a shame that NHS doesn't routinely offer scans around the 8/9 week mark - it's standard in France, where I spent my first trimester last time round. 12 weeks seems like forever to wait and I can't help but worry.

x-post. I agree. Now that women often find out they're pregnant on the day of a missed period or even before, an earlier scan would either provide reassurance that the pregnancy was continuing for the moment, or detect MMCs which it's always better to know about asap.

When my mother was pregnant in the '60s, the general rule of thumb was that women should wait until they've missed two periods to consider themselves pregnant, but those days have long gone.

My first private scan was with one of those clinics they have everywhere - Ultrasound direct. I wanted to make sure I'm pregnant. Even though it did the job, I just didn't get the reassurance that the sonographer was medically trained. She didn't do anything wrong at all, but the whole set up was uncomfortable.

Since then we've had our private scans with a consultant and that way we know we're seeing someone who knows what they're doing. I definitely wouldn't be comfortable doing a reassurance or anomaly scan at those private clinics.

@Nell96 You can do private scans with consultants rather than these random clinics. We go to one in SE London.

Research the place you are going to. I made sure that where I went was hcpc registered. They also clearly sate that the scans are not medical and are for entertainment only. I do agree that anyone offering a scan for medical or entertainment reason only should be a registered professional, that know what to look for and how to refer people on to the specialist care they may need. people have private scan as the care in the nhs is not great through covid and people want their partners to part of the pregnancy journey, or have had problems in previous pregnancy and aren't offered anymore scans or reassurance on the nhs

I have a very low opinion of the high street chains and was not impressed with the one I once used, but I've had really good experiences with a Harley Street clinic - they were extremely compassionate and thorough on identifying that a pregnancy wasn't progressing normally, careful to follow up regarding related concerns for my own health, and generally made a shitty situation as good as it possibly could have been. I went back to them for NIPT for my subsequent pregnancy on the basis of how good they'd been then, and once again found them excellent - detailed, helpful, informative and professional. Normally I find Harley Street a bit much, but for private scans I'd absolutely go back there rather than anywhere else (although obviously that's difficult at the moment!)

@Fruitloops34

I'm always wary of a bandwagon, what do you see as the other side?

FWIW I had an early scan which was great, but it seems from the report that there are some issues.

I think it's a bit unfair to say the nhs provision in early pregnancy is poor- at the end of the day as brutal as it sounds there isn't much that can be done before twelve weeks if things do go wrong- eptopic pregnancy obv different but any hcp would ask questions to rule this out -as I mentioned I had a miscarriage and was scanned following a bleed around 6/7 weeks- heartbeat was seen all looked ok and then miscarried the next week - I was admitted overnight but went home when the miscarriage was obviously happening . In another pregnancy that went on to be fine I bled around 14 weeks and was again admitted to hospital overnight and monitored and scanned .
Sadly with pregnancy there often isn't a huge amount anyone can do to reassure or stop sad things happening it is really a stressful waiting game for a lot of it.
I think there is an expectation that when pregnant you'll have lots of medical involvement but it's important to remember pregnancy for the vast majority of women isn't an illness and will only need routine checks. I appreciate it must be tough with COVID if these aren't face to face but remember if you're not being seen very much it's probably because everything is ok .

I think as previous posters have said, expectant mothers need to have that early reassurance that the NHS does not provide, hence turning to private centres. BUT expectant mothers should also not be under the illusion that they replace the standard 12 and 20 wk scan....I find it sad that this is implied (true or not) in the article that these scans are seen as a such.
I have had private early scans with all my pregnancies (not the centre mentioned) and have to say, I went in there fully understanding it was a snapshot in time, a reassurance of that moment there was a viable pregnancy until my NHS scans. I only had the 6-8wks reassurance scans, no additional private scans....to wait to 12 wks is a long time!!
And this proved to be invaluable back in June when I had an early scan at 8.5wks and sadly discovered a mmc. The sonographer was compassionate and helpful and provided us with the information we needed to act upon it. 2 days later I was seen by the epau and a few days later it was all over.
Without that scan, I'd have likely got to 12 wks still thinking all was well or would have ended up bleeding and panicking. I would rather know and deal with things promptly.
I am pregnant again now and have a scan booked for Monday, with the plan to book a nipt test with the same company if all is well.
I agree there needs to be some regulations though....They need to be qualified and confident to deal with the unexpected, even if it is to suggest contacting the mw....but....expectant mothers need to be aware of what they are 'buying' and understand what that means.

Yes there may be a place for these private scans, BUT they should be performed by registered professionals, who are allowed to say if they see something that doesn't look right. Some of the chains shouldn't be allowed to operate based on this report. They are exploiting women at a vulnerable time.

I did consider an early scan in my second pregnancy but ultimately decided not to. It would have shown 2 babies early on, but by my NHS scan one twin had stopped developing. I'd have found that very difficult after bonding with the idea of twins, so I'm glad I didn't book one in the end.

I had a private scan that was MMC and dealt with very well

I had several early scans in my first pregnancy many years ago. I was repeatedly told I was just too early to see anything, although I had a gut feeling something was wrong. I was quite young and didn’t really know much about pregnancy, so took their word for it and I miscarried at home the day before my 12 week scan. Ended up in hospital almost needing a blood transfusion as I passed out in the bathroom from losing so much blood. From what I know now, I had a blighted ovum and I believe it could have been resolved in a much less traumatic manner with an earlier diagnosis.

However, I’ve also had 2 early scans with my current pregnancy (anxiety from my first pregnancy is playing a big part) and I’ve had wonderful experiences and felt that the sonographers were professional and so informative. There are rogues in every profession.

Thirtyrock39 my view that NHS early pregnancy provision is inadequate was in regard to women's psychological needs. Not all women, but certainly a number judging by posters on this thread.

Early pregnancy can be an horrendously stressful time for women, especially if they have had previous losses. Waiting for two months after a positive pregnancy test to even speak to a HCP is a long time if you're feeling highly anxious. A 8/9 week scan would break the first trimester into more manageable chunks, as well as be able to detect MMCs etc without the woman having to be pregnant for another month not realising that it has gone wrong already.

Just my view. My first baby died and my antenatal care during my subsequent pregnancies didn't support my psychological needs at all. An early scan would have helped to reduce my anxiety which was through the roof.

Every time I've had a private scan in various different places, I've been told that it is not for medical purposes and you sign something to say you agree with something along those lines.

My experience of NHS maternity care is dreadful in the early weeks. I have HG and my GP didn’t take it seriously. I just got repeat prescriptions and sick notes. They refused to see me and said morning sickness was normal. My midwife never returned my messages.

I ended up collapsing at home and was admitted to the emergency gynae unit for many bags of fluids and IV medication. I was finally looked after and given the care I needed.

I first saw a midwife at 17 weeks who was really good. I understand in some Trusts, you aren’t face to face seen until week 28. Now that is poor care in established pregnancy.

Agree totally with @recreationalcalpol and @Fruitloops34. I am 7 weeks pregnant with 1st child and have been left very disappointed with the NHS early pregnancy care despite the fact that I am a dedicated nhs professional myself who has worked on the frontline for 14 years.

Unfortunately I had 2 x episodes of bleeding at the weekend. I tried to contact the gp but the receptionist refused to put me through informing me that they couldn’t refer for scans and that I needed to contact the midwives direct. I explained that I’ve only had text contact with them to date and they replied the day after I contacted them to say contact your gp or go to a&e. The receptionist said go to a&e then which seemed very inappropriate advice given that I am not ill, I just require a scan appointment?

I googled my closest epu and got an answer phone msg saying that they are closed till March so tried the next epu, 45 mins away to be advised that they don’t do self referrals and that I would need to speak to my gp...

I think people need to be realistic about what these are, just a chance for bonding and cute photos because for £70 you aren't going to get a medical professional. You wouldn't expect your hairdresser to diagnose cancer so why is this any different?