Is an early scan worth it?

[B65]

I’m thinking of having an early scan (7-8weeks), I think my main reason is to confirm pregnancy and make it feel a bit more real.
I’ve read some articles about the private scans being in unhygienic settings & also people not being trained do it. Has any got any advice?

I went for a private scan, it was an NHS midwife who owned and ran the clinic. My experience was it was more personal and wasn't clinical the way it is in hospital. I would do your research into who will be scanning you - particularly what's their qualifications/experience. It was important to me that they could identify any concerns and raise them with me there and then. If they're a qualified midwife or sonographer they have a duty of care to inform you and get you further care x

I had an early scan this weekend. I should be 8 weeks. Unfortunately they found that the baby was smaller than my dates and had no heartbeat. They referred me straight to the EPU and I was seen by them this morning. Even though my outcome was bad and they diagnosed my missed miscarriage. They looked after me brilliantly and got me straight into the system for what comes next.

I wouldn't book one for before 7+5 or 7+6, I've read so many stories of women booking a "reassurance" scan privately and then their dates don't match up or they ovulated/implanted later than they expected, and then there is no heartbeat and they end up having to wait another 7 days for a rescan and end up even more anxious than they were before.

So sorry to hear what you're going through @Rycbar , sending you lots of TLC.

I had my first private scan at 6 weeks to confirm pregnancy - to be honest, the only reason I had this scan was so that my husband would be able to see our baby as we live in different parts of the world and I thought he would miss all future scans.

The clinic was fully regulated by CQC and was very hygienic. I ended up going back to the clinic for further private scans when I started to bleed at 8 weeks and the hospital refused to scan.

I’ve had early scans due to previous losses and it’s the best thing for us - really helped with anxiety. Also had private scans throughout my pregnancy and never had any issues.
find a reputable place with good reviews.

I’d definitely wait til 8 weeks to have one. Do you know anyone local who you can ask for recommendations? Or Google reviews? Remember it doesn’t change anything though, I only had one in my current pregnancy due to previous miscarriage

I had an early scan with my first baby at 9 weeks at window to the womb. It was mainly because with covid my partner couldn't come to the nhs scans but could the private ones.

I had also previously had 2 miscarriages and I needed the reassurance. It was a very nice experience the people were lovely.

I just found out I'm 5 weeks pregnant and plan to do the same this time round

I agree, wait til 8 weeks if you can - you'll see so much more and the baby is not so tiny that a mm out either way throws the dates out causing stress.

I have only had one private scan but it was at a really nice clean professional clinic where the sonographers knew their stuff. The rest have been via EPU and to be honest I found the two experiences not to be much different, besides the fact that the private clinic had a lot less waiting around!

We had one and it was worth it. Like others have said, try to wait until around 7-8 weeks if possible. I think we had ours during that window. We wanted to make sure things were looking ok, as much as you can tell at this stage, before we told family about the baby 😊Had the scan and went straight home to call both sets of (grand)parents.

Do some research into the place, read reviews etc., but our experience was very good.

A lot of people will tell you not to bother, but from personal experience when you've had a previous miscarriage, MMC, ectopic etc. it's much better knowing and being able to act on it rather than waiting until 12-14 weeks for the NHS one. I've always only used one private scan clinic, the sonographers there have either previously worked for the NHS or currently work for the NHS part time and the private place the other part of the week. It's a much more comfy/less sterile feel but never dirty or unhygienic.

Definitely worth it. I've admittedly probably gone a bit overboard this pregnancy with private scans, I've had at least 10-15 and I'm only 28 weeks 🙈 but sometimes you just need to see that everything is going as it should! x

I was the same - not overboard.. the anxiety of pregnancy is crazy and not recognised enough. I’m with you 😊

I had one at 6+4. HIGHLY recommend, it gave me reassurance that there was actually the potential of a real baby.

Thanks so much everyone! I’m going to do some research and definitely get one 😄