Private early scan?

[Daffodils21]

I’m currently pregnant with my first child and my husband and I have agreed to tell our parents at the weekend when I’ll be approx 8/9 weeks. We’re debating whether to have an early scan before we tell them but I understand that things can still go wrong after the scan.

I’m really undecided as to what to do and just wondered what other people would do or if they have been for an early scan and it was worth it?

Part of me is inclined to have a scan as I don’t ‘feel’ pregnant, I have only had sore boobs and no other symptoms.

A lot of my friends have said an early scan around 9 weeks helped keep them reassured.
I've personally never bothered. As like you said, things can go wrong any time.

Don't worry about the symptoms or feeling pregnant though. That's completely normal.
I've never had symptoms apart from sore boobs which come and go week to week and sometimes didn't return for several weeks.

You will hear a variety of stories for and against so ultimately you will have to go with your gut. I personally wouldn’t recommend it early on after my own experience. I’m currently 33 weeks pregnant with my first baby. At 10 weeks we went for a private scan and they saw no baby. They were pretty callous and said, “sorry we only deal with babies, you need to go to the nhs to see what’s happened”. I had already told her that I had a bicornuate / retroverted womb so the baby might be tricky to see, but she took no notice. Also this was on a Sunday and she was out of retirement during covid ... basically the lady clearly did not know what she was doing and it caused us a lot of unnecessary stress and £70. We should have waited for the nhs appointment.
However when you’re further along if you want gender reveal balloons, explosions or other merchandise, then I think they are the place to go. They had lots of those things for sale. I just would not trust them for an early medical opinion.
Good luck op.

I had an early scan because I couldn't wait. It was a lovely experience.

Congratulations OP!

I went for a scan at 9 weeks and unfortunately it was a missed miscarriage. It was much easier telling our families only the bad news than if I had already told them and they were excited and I had to take that away. I won't be telling them next time until way past 12 weeks but it's such a personal decision. You've got to think about how you feel and what support you need vs other people's feelings.

Thank you for your replies it is good to hear about other people’s experiences.

Sorry to hear what you went through @LittleTiger007 that must have been such a worry but glad everything has turned out ok for you.

I’ll speak to my husband tonight but I think I’ll hold out for the NHS 12 week scan - seems like such a long way off!

Having an early private scans after you're at the point where the should be a heartbeat (which you are) is perfectly ok. I've had several, due to previous MCs but I didn't have one before 7 weeks as it can bring more uncertainty. Yes, things can still go wrong after a good early scan, an early scan won't prevent that, but if it helps you relax then go for it.

Nice username btw

@Madeoftea I’m so sorry about your missed miscarriage You’re right, it’s such a personal thing. I know that I would definitely want my Mum’s support if something was to go wrong.

We recently recently went for an early private scan at 7+5 and had planned to tell our families following this. We'd already told close friends and I'm so glad we did but with some family members we didn't want to give them good news only for it to turn into bad news later on.

Although we saw a heartbeat the fetus was measuring small and we just didn't have a good feeling anymore. We decided to hold off making an announcement and I'm glad we did because unfortunately I miscarried at 9 weeks. After having the scan and being left in limbo for a week I decided early scans were the work of the devil as they'd (hopefully) made us worry unnecessarily, but on reflection I'm really glad we went because we were more prepared for it to go wrong. If I get pregnant again I will definitely be having another scan around 8 weeks (but not before!). I know lots have people feel differently though and have been given worrying news at an early scan only for it to turn out ok in the end. I hope you have a good outcome whatever you decide and congratulations on your pregnancy xx

@Daffodil21 I had to do a double take on your username then, thought I had replied to myself

Yes that’s true that an early scan can’t stop anything going wrong and it would be nice to have some reassurance for the time being.

@Flopsy88 thank you for your reply and I’m so sorry to hear about your experience and miscarriage

@Daffodils21 I had to do a double take on yours too! I will always be slightly biased towards having private scans for reassurance as I have had so many during this pregnancy and it's the only thing that's allowed me to partly enjoy it. I am a little excessive, and have one every week or two, depending on how I am feeling. I have read some horror stories on here about private scans, but I have been lucky that my place has been good. Just to add - I didn't have them so I could tell people, I had them for my own peace of mind after 3 MCs. I had actually told my mum and a few close friends very early on, before I had my first scan because I knew I would need their support if things did go wrong, as they have in the past for me. I also told them early on in my 3 previous pregnancies and didn't regret it when things did go wrong, but I had only told those I would lean on if it didn't go well

I would have the scan but only because I had a pregnancy where no heartbeat was found at the 12 week scan x

I've had two private scans and I was really happy I did them. The first was about 6 weeks (which is very early) but it was pre-Christmas (when it looked like we'd be able to see family) and it would have been far too obvious if I wasn't drinking. I wanted to ensure that everything was in the right place and it looked as 'normal' as possible.

Following the scan, we told our immediate family but caveated that obviously it was very early days (we made sure it was only the adults and none of our nieces/nephews).

We then had another at 12 weeks as my NHS experience was awful and my husband wasn't allowed in for the scan.

Both private ultrasounds were done by NHS sonographers working privately and they were so helpful telling us what we were looking at. We went to Ultrasound Direct and personally I had a really good experience at both clinics (I went to two different ones becuase of appointment availability) and would definitely go again for private scans.

Congratulations OP! I had a great experience at my early scan (6+6 weeks but they measured me 7+6), although I understand that others do not. Like you, I just needed to see something on the screen for it to sink in that I’m actually pregnant as I barely had any symptoms apart from sore boobs and extreme tiredness (I’m 10+5 now and those are still really my only 2!). Seeing bubba on screen with a heartbeat made it feel real and settled my mind a lot.

That being said, early scans can bring bad news as I’m sure you know. I knew this, but told myself I’d rather know earlier than wait that extra month thinking I’m going to have a little baby and being told bad news at 12 weeks. Do what feels right for you💓

@Daffodils21 I had a private scan at the start of Feb when should have been 7+3. I measured over a week behind with no hb seen and then had a follow up scan the week after at EPU. They confirmed it was a MMC and I had a d&c the same week. I would rather have known that the pregnancy was not progressing so I could deal with the situation earlier. I have a son but prior to him I had a MMC with my first pregnancy at 11 weeks. I had slight bleeding and was scanned to find the pregnancy had stopped v early but I hadn’t known. I’ve found the private scans helpful since that x

Two of my pregnancies have ended after perfectly positive early scans where we'd clearly seen a healthy baby with a heartbeat - once at ten weeks and once at eleven weeks.

For me personally I would always want to get through the first trimester at a minimum. Personal choice though, everybody does it differently.

Sorry I wasn't clear above. For me I'd always have a scan, but wouldn't be sharing the news until into the second trimester.

Private early scans were available for a charge at the same hospital ultrasound unit where routine NHS scans took place with the same Somographers.

I wouldn't go to a Window to the Womb or Scan Clinic type place as I just wouldn't trust them to be appropriately skilled which leads to the poor experiences PP have had 😕

I had a private scan at 8+3 in my last pregnancy. Baby measured 7+4 with a hb, 4 days later I started spotting 4 days after the scan and passed baby a week after the scan. I had a scan around the same gestation with our twins at epau as failed coil conception. They also measured behind but caught up and carried them to 38wk.
This time I waited for my dating scan and glad I did, I'm 20+1wk now and had my anomaly scan. I didn't have early scans with any others, had 3 other live births, 4 other mc's and lots of chemicals. If you have issues then yes have early scans with epau but avoid private scans. I do recommend the gender and well being scans for between dating and anomaly, I found one this time reassuring as baby had grown lots and it broke the wait up whilst movements were few and far between. Thankfully I'm getting a lot more movement now so not worrying as much. I personally prefer to hold off telling people about pregnancy until in the 2nd trimester.
Congratulations and good luck.

Thank you all for your replies, sorry to hear of some of your experiences My gut feeling is telling me to wait for the 12 week scan just in case.

We are still going to tell parents and a close friend at the weekend but that is because they are expecting us to have our first fertility appointment next month and are asking questions. I also know that if anything was to go wrong I could rely on them for support.

I have no experience with private scans but the messages on here from worried people having early scans has put me off ever considering them in the future. Sometimes dates can be wrong and so the heartbeat hasn't started yet and people get worried thinking there's something wrong when really they just had to wait a little longer.

Hope things go well and congratulations!

Hi @Daffodils21 I booked an early scan as soon as I found out I was pregnant and was supposed to be next week. As my morning (not quite sickness) queasiness eased up a little last week when I was around 6+5 so moved it to earlier this evening for a bit of reassurance.

Well, all I can say is while sadly an early scan can show bad news, they can also show surprising news. I thought the sonographer was playing a bad April fools on me when she couldn't see a heartbeat but could see both of them.....

With DS we went for a scan at 10-ish weeks at the Fetal Medical Centre in Harley Street. We’re thinking of going there again this time so DH can be there as he won’t be allowed to the 12 week scan. Like CorpusCallosum though I wouldn’t go to a window to the womb type of place. I want it done by a properly trained medical professional.