Window to the womb / sure scan

[FirstTimerHan]

Opinions on W2W/sure scan - experienced good and bad?!

W2TW have been brilliant for all my scans. Sensitive and kind when it was bad news and efficient when it was good!

I had a rubbish experience with W2W. I believe they are franchises so each branch is likely to be different. I had a great experience with Ultrasound Direct.

I would personally only use a private clinic run by fetal medicine consultants and consultant OBs e.g. Harley Street Centre for Women. Everyone who works there has an NHS base, in this case UCLH. So you know you are getting a proper medical grade scan and advice should there be any issues. Not being snobby, I just have concerns about how skilled they are at spotting issues and how they deal with problems once spotted.

I had a shit time with WTTW. It was bad news in my case, but they dealt with it terribly. The sonographer also labelled the gestational sac as the yolk sac, which gave me false hope initially.

I've had two WTTW scans, both not due to any concerns but wanting to see if there was a heartbeat before we shared news with family members (in both cases we were due to see my MIL who lives far away at around the 8 - 10 week mark and we wanted to let her know in person but didn't want to do so without some sort of idea that things were progressing as they should).

The first was really great (at their Croydon/Hackbridge one), very detailed, they took lots of time to point things out. They spotted a subchorionic hematoma and explained what that could mean, didn't panic me, gave me plenty of information about what to do if I had any bleeding and gave me some pointers on what to ask at my 12 week scan. As it was I never had any external bleeding and the hematoma had been reabsorbed by the 12 week mark but it was reassuring to be aware of it, and would have really helped to know if I had started bleeding. The scan images were very good quality too, considering the gestation. If it had been bad news I think they would have handled it well - it felt like they had a lot of time for us.

Second time around was this pregnancy (currently 15 weeks) and it was rather different - very quick, we were in there only a few minutes, just a 'here's your baby, that's the heartbeat, all looks fine' and done. This was at their Chessington branch. I didn't mind this much, because I felt more confident as it was my second pregnancy, knew what questions to ask and so on, but it was quite rushed. The picture quality was awful - I know that it can be a challenge when baby is that small, and I wasn't exactly there for the photos but to know all was progressing ok - but you could see there was a marked quality difference in terms of the sharpness of the whole image, not just of the baby, so I wondered if their equipment was less advanced/older etc.

I agree with a PP that they're not comparable with fetal grade sonographers and fundamentally it's a moneymaking thing not a healthcare one (so many extras available to buy in the reception area!!) but I don't think they're necessarily comparable. For me using them was just a 'no concerns, checking in that everything is ok' process, and if I hadn't scanned with them I probably wouldn't have scanned at all, so I wasn't relying on them to spot any particular issues. If I had a history of loss, or a genuine concern about my pregnancy, I wouldn't use them. I think most of their business is to do the 'frills' that the NHS rightly won't do - additional scans for gender reveals and so on.

Interesting @Dollywilde as my bad experience was WTW Hackbridge!

@lawandgin oh how interesting! I guess it’s a lottery based on the person you get, the day etc…

@zeena83

I would personally only use a private clinic run by fetal medicine consultants and consultant OBs e.g. Harley Street Centre for Women. Everyone who works there has an NHS base, in this case UCLH. So you know you are getting a proper medical grade scan and advice should there be any issues. Not being snobby, I just have concerns about how skilled they are at spotting issues and how they deal with problems once spotted.

I’d second this. I had some concerns — unfounded, thank goodness — in my last pregnancy and I went to a private clinic attached to the fetal medicine unit of an NHS teaching hospital and was seen by a consultant. It was worth every penny to know the advice I was getting was based on research and expertise.

Yes I think so @Dollywilde - it was a Sunday and they were so disorganised. They'd run out of cleaner for the probe for internal scans so had to uber some from miles away... the receptionist was so unprofessional, moaning about the sonographer in front of everyone in the waiting room and she had a terrible manner on the phone. Luckily I was having an abdominal scan but it was still over 45 minutes late - and we were only the second appointment of the day! I had no confidence in them whatsoever.

I had a scan ~week 7 to confirm heartbeat etc. I booked on ultrasound direct and they sent me to WTTW (Essex). It was fine, first scan so not a lot to check.

However due to some issues not related to results themselves I had two NIPTs done - one via Ultrasound Direct in Chelmsford and the other one at The Birth Company in Harley Street. The difference in the level of expertise, information given, details checked was significant. The Harley Str place was 20% more but totally worth it.

If it’s the first reassurance scan I think WTTW is going to be fine but anything more complex I would try to book with a private clinic with well trained NHS staff.

One of my WTTW scans was conducted by an NHS sonographer who also worked at the local hospital (no idea about the others as didn't ask), I think it's absolutely a lottery though. For the £50 I paid each time, I had an experience that matched the level I would expect!

I had an early scan with WTTW in my first pregnancy just for reassurance before the first nhs scan and it was fine. Booked another for next month with current pregnancy.
All I want to do is see a heartbeat so I can relax a bit before Xmas, I’m not fussed about scan pictures or anything so my expectations are fairly low!

I used WTTW in both pregnancies but quite a bit later on once we'd had the early and 12 week scans at the hospital.

I found them to be great but it wasn't really reassurance I was looking for so other posters info will be more useful if this is what you need. Ours were because my OH couldn't make it to some of the NHS scans.

The only issue I had was trying to get a 4d scan of my DD with an anterior placenta, I thought I was going to give birth to mick jagger based on her poor squished face but that wasn't their fault. I didn't bother with that the second time around.

I got both with groupon so didn't pay full price.

I had an early scan at WTTW in my second pregnancy, it was a very strange experience and I have not used them again.

What I found odd was that I could not view the scan as it was happening. During the scan, the sonographer & his assistant spent ages pointing things out to each other on a small laptop screen, which was directed away from me. Neither of them communicated with me about what they could see for quite some time.

Eventually the assistant noticed I was getting increasingly anxious and said, 'we'll let know what we can see in a moment.'

They then told me that they could see the sac, baby and a heartbeat, and showed it to me very briefly on a small screen on the opposite wall. The picture quality was very poor. They got me to go back out to the waiting area, drink some water and come back in, but it didn't make a much of a difference.

The whole time I felt like there was something they weren't saying.

I started to miscarry this pregnancy a week later. I'm pretty sure they could tell something wasn't quite right but didn't want to give me bad news.

I am pregnant again now and have used Ultrasound-direct a few times, they are always great. Their facilities are much better and you can see everything up on a big screen as you are being scanned. The sonographers talk you through exactly what they are looking at and what they can see.

I went to a WTTW for a confirmation of MMC. It was fine, but I went in knowing the probable outcome and without being emotional about it as it were. They were kind but professional.

I'm going to a different place tomorrow where the sonographer is also a qualified MW and has worked in the NHS. The equipment there is the same or similar quality as the one in the fetal medicine unit at the hospital.

The NHS scans are for medical and diagnostic purposes, healthcare. The private places are definitely for the fluff and extras. You just have to be careful which place you go to ad to the quality of the sonographer.

What I found odd was that I could not view the scan as it was happening. During the scan, the sonographer & his assistant spent ages pointing things out to each other on a small laptop screen, which was directed away from me. Neither of them communicated with me about what they could see for quite some time.

In my case they switched to screens as soon as they saw the heartbeat - I think they did not want to show anything unless they were sure it looked fine.

I am pregnant again now and have used Ultrasound-direct a few times, they are always great. Their facilities are much better and you can see everything up on a big screen as you are being scanned. The sonographers talk you through exactly what they are looking at and what they can see.

Ultrasound Direct does not own all testing places - I booked with them and when I arrived at the testing place it turned out to be WTTW.

I think it varies place to place so ask about the qualifications of the staff. I have used several branches of Ultrasound Direct and at one been scanned by the same sonographer who leads the team at the NHS hospital.
Another sonographer was not great but it was one experience compared to many more knowledgable ones.

I have used both Window to the Womb & Ultrasound Direct, and can recommend them both!! Had such a lovely experience with both of them. I had my early reassurance scan at Ultrasound Direct and an early gender scan at Window to the Womb. I found UD a little more clinical and WTTW a little more 'fluffy' - but I would say that was the only major difference.