Paying for early pregnancy scan, Warrington/Manchester/Liverpool?

[sarah76]

Tis my first, and I'm nervous as hell. My symptoms I had at 4.5 weeks have completely disappeared (6 weeks today). I also have PCOS, so paranoid about miscarriage. I'm not bleeding, so GP won't send me for an early scan, but I've seen lots of people mention paying privately for one. Does anyone know where I could get this done? I live in Warrington, but could travel to Manchester/Liverpool. Any idea how much it would cost?

Try searching on the net, thats what my friend did we live in the east midlands area, so unfortunately no where near you!

Hi

Contact your local Early pregnamcy assessment Unit directly - the one at ST Marys in Manchester will see you directly without gp referal. You may need to tell a white lie though, prehaps about an early bleed.Good Luck!

fib like BFU says
Warrington DGH has an epu and they do scans if you've got a problem like spotting etc
Good luck

I went to Bridgewater Hospital in Manchester

It was Baby Premier, they have moved

please do not lie to get an appointment at the EPU. the services are often over stretched and need to be available for women who are bleeding or miscarrying.

having said that, does having PCOS make you more high risk? did you need Clomid to conceive?

there are lots of places in the northwest who do private scans.

it is normal for symptoms to come and go and vary from day to day in early pregnancy.

a scan at this stage may cause further anxiety - as you don't always see the heartbeat at six weeks, so you may end up being told to come back in 10-14 days for a rescan.

It's really up to Op wether she decides to tell a white lie. If the NHS provided a better service for people in this situation then she would not be put in this dilema - Op obviously NEEDS the scan from a physchological POV IMVHO, regardless of what the medics think. BTW I have had and MC and 2 EP's so have used the EPAU alot.

BTW agree with total that you would be better waiting until around 6/7 weeks as they won't see anything yet.

it is up the OP , but whilst services are overstretched, white lies are not going to help make them less stressed. if having PCOS makes a pregnancy more high risk or if she has had fertility treatment, she might well be able to get an early scan without lying.

lulu, i had to fight to get an early scan in my last PG even though i had had two EP's and that should be standard practsise. Nobody who needs a scan should have to lie. It's not ideal.

Thanks for the advice ladies. I did find a few services that will do early scans privately for between £85-£95. Since I've just gone six weeks, I do agree having a scan and having them not see a heartbeat (which it might be too early for) would be even more stressful, so I'm going to grit my teeth, suck it up, and wait to see the results of the blood tests the GP is doing. I guess hormone levels should be doubling every 30 hours or something, so I have two tests scheduled two days apart (Monday & Wednesday) and GP said I could call her for results Thursday. If that's not reassuring, then I think I'd want the early scan.

I did think about a little white lie, but I'm a terrible liar and I wouldn't want to do it about something relating to my/baby's health. Someone said tonight I should say I've got stomach cramps, but I just don't think I can do it. As some have said, services are overstretched, and I don't want to contribute to the problem with what is probably just my own inexperience and paranoia. The NHS does have its flaws, but when you come from the USA as I do, and realise that here at least everyone gets some form of care sooner or later (instead of just the rich), you really start to appreciate it more and think of it less selfishly.

Everyone's thoughts really appreciated on this, especially since I'm soooooo new to this early pregnancy thing!

Oh and in answer to another question, I didn't have fertility treatment. I was lucky enough not to need clomid, though I really thought I would have it at some point! People with PCOS seem to have more recurrent miscarriages than people without, but they're not sure exactly why that is. Perhaps to do with egg quality if you ovulate late? I was CD18 which is early for me, so I was just very lucky that we caught it!

There's a place in Warrington that does free reassurance scans ... I'll try to find out the details for you

Here we go - they're called Inner Vision website

They were giving out leaflets a few months ago saying they thought it was wrong that people had to pay for reassurance scans - doesn't mention it on the website I don't think (but then it didn't earlier either) but worth giving them a call. They were also doing free gender scans back in July, which is how we know about them, as we had one of those - it was literally 30 seconds or so but that's all you need really.

You'd probably need a car to get there as they're tucked away near Birchwood or Gemini or somewhere, but the sonographer was really nice

Good luck - early pregnancy is such a scary uncertain time. Hope it all works out okay for you.

Just an update, I didn't need to pay in the end. My HCG was low-ish and not doubling, so GP sent me for a scan today at Warrington Hospital. There was a bean with a heartbeat, and I am going back in 10 days to make sure all is still well as the sac isn't as big as it's meant to be in relation to baby.

There's a fab new private scan company in Warrington, opposite the main police station .....opened April 2010 (I think)....friendly but professional staff.
www.firstchoicebabyscan.com

The Bridgewater Hospital in Manchester perform pregnancy scans. Ask to have Santosh Mohindra perform your scan, she is the lovliest person. She takes time to explain everything and seems as excited about your baby as you are.
The hospital is really nice and you are treated like a VIP, throughout your visit.
I believe they are the only hospital or clinic outside of London to offer the nuchal scan with immediate results. I arrived for mine, had blood taken, followed by the most informative scan. At the end of the scan, my blood results were ready. Santosh then put the blood and scan results together and calculated the risk of me having a Downs Syndrome Baby. Thankfully everything was fine and we have since been back for a 4D reassurance scan with the Grandparents - it was amazing!