Article: Private ultrasound clinics in the UK are profiting from our anxiety

[Olivred]

Interesting article in today's Guardian:

Unregulated ultrasound clinics run without proper training are making money out of maternal fears

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/dec/11/private-ultrasound-clinics-are-profiting-from-our-anxiety

I had a very bad experience at a private ultrasound clinic earlier this year where a bad news situation was handled so terribly that I don't think I can ever set foot in one again. I'm now pregnant again and just attending hospital scans.

I know the private ultrasound experience can be much more positive for others but I think the article makes some good points. It doesn't seem right that anyone can set up these places and they are then largely unregulated and free to charge extortionate prices to people who may be vulnerable and anxious.

I would definitely encourage anyone going to a private clinic to only go to those that use qualified sonographers. The one I use only employs sonographers who have all relevant qualifications and also all work for the NHS, which is great as they are then also aware of the care I'm getting there.

There are 3 clinics around my area, 2 are a shit show & never have the same person on. Once I was shown to a room with a very intimidating man who spoke little English - very rough with an internal scan and quickly diagnosed a miscarriage. This was correct but the way things were handled were appalling & I was traumatised.

The other is wonderful, only employed fully qualified ultrasound scanners and always have a qualified midwife available. It was set up by a GP and a midwife and it's run beautifully & doesn't overcharge. Of course they make money from naff tat, but they also provide a really valuable service.

I'm the veteran of 7 pregnancies and 2 babies and without the good clinic accessible I couldn't function for stress and anxiety.

In one of my pregnancies I had a scan at 8 weeks at a private clinic where all appeared to be well. The sonographer specifically did a disclaimer saying she wasn’t medically qualified etc and was I happy to go ahead. At the time I didn’t really see any issues, I was just excited to see baby and heartbeat. We felt confident in the pregnancy afterwards and shared the news with more people than we should have really.

However at the 12 week scan a lot of issues were spotted including fluid in the neck, limited movement and heart development issues, this went on to be diagnosed as Edwards Syndrome in what appeared to be a fairly severe form. We ended up terminating.

Looking back, it’s hard to say what was the right thing to do and whether the false confidence of the scan made things worse or simply delayed the inevitable or whether a qualified sonographer would have even identified any issues at the eight week mark. But I do know I’ll never go to that sort of ‘clinic’ again and so far in my current pregnancy I’ve avoided any private scans at all.

@Olivred Im similar to you, had bad news and an awful experience at a private scan clinic. I’ve found a place that does all kinds of medical scans for this pregnancy as don’t think I could ever go to a window to the womb type place again

I had a bad experience at a private ultrasound clinic in my last pregnancy. In fact, I’ve had a few difficult experiences, so I’m just having NHS scans this time around because paying for scans doesn’t change the outcome and the comfort of them never really last more than a few days before you’re thinking about the next one. I get awful scanxiety!

Thanks for your comments. I agree its different when it's a clinic run by NHS professionals with the right qualifications. I wish I had had one of those near me when I decided to go.

My experience was at one of the other sorts of clinics that are clearly not run by qualified people. While the sonogrophrs may have the right training on paper they had 0 idea of how to deal with vulnerable/ anxious people in a bad news scenario and made a complete mess of it!

It's sad to see other have had some bad experiences too. If only they could tighten up regulations a bit more.