How many of you got FREE nuchal scans and where (roughly) are you?

[princessmel]

I am just about to book mine. At the same clinic I had it done for dd in 2005.

But my sil told me she had her nuchal done at her 12 week booking scan. On the NHS.
She is in Bedford.

I will call my antenatel ward on monday to find out if our area is doing it on the NHS now.

Just wondered how many of you didn't have to pay.

London - 7 & 5 years ago

I am in Cambs and we had to go private because they don't do NHS nuchals here. They did offer to let us have one at the same hospital we had the 12 and 20 week scans at, but only if we paid £150. We went to London for it instead, to the Fetal Medicine Centre, as it cost the same and the blood tests on offer were more thorough and you got the results straight away. Plus we thought it was a bit off to scan us on an NHS machine in an NHS clinic and charge us handsomely for the privilege for a less extensive test than in London, tbh.

pinkbump3 - I'm in Edinburgh and did not get a nuchal scan. In fact it's only since January that women have been offered the 20 week anomaly scan! Previously we just had the dating scan and that was it.

I should add that I've heard that women in this area will be offered the nuchal scan on the NHS "soon".

Don't get one here in Leeds area (or the bordering Mid Yorkshire Trust)

have had one for each of my pregnancies (eldest child 9 1/2) am in London

Also get integrated test here and did during last pg too (2003)

This is interesting. We are also in Cambs and had to pay £150 for a nuchal in the same hospital as everything else in 2006 when I was pg with DS. I was wondering whether things may have changed, sounds as though they haven't from BoffinMum's post.

You are right Flowery, it doesn't seem to have changed and I was actually very miffed they did it like this.

really sobranie? im in argyll but my antenatal care is between here/inverclyde and paisley and all scans have always been offered and free. same as my friends who have given birth in glasgow. and thats always been the case for me so far dds 9 & 8 years and with this pg (37 weeks)! I think it is ridiculous to have "postcode" care on the nhs.

Free here - and has been since at least 2003 (when had dd's scan). Now includes the blood test as well (when there was no blood test in 2005 when I was pregnant with ds).

South east london/Kent borders. Scan done at Kings Harris Birthright Centre (run by prof. NIkolaides).

I had one here with the blood test at 12 weeks in West Hertfordshire. Here it is only given on the NHS to people who are 39 years and over. That is a new thing that started in December 2008.
Giving my age away

JLo2 We're sort of mid herts!
I am very keen to find out now.

I had 12 weeks nuchal on NHS with ds1 & 2, that was 7 and 5yrs ago. They only did them free though due to previous problems. Have been told this time though that it's now free for everyone. I'm in West Kent

i did at 13 weeks (UCH, London)

Im in Luton and it was free for me in all 3 pg's (2000, 2008 and presently 18 wks)

we got it as part of the booking scan - 200, 2003 & 2005, north west.

I had nuchal scan and blood screening with both my daughters in 2004 and 2007. This was at the RD + E in exeter

East Surrey - Nuchal scan part of 12 week scan as standard. Only nuchal measurement though, won't discuss other indicators such as presence of nasal bone.

Other than a couple of exceptions in general there seems to be a south-east theme doesn't there?

I'm Warwickshire and no Nuchal here.

I gather they're doing it free in Oxford now, although we had to get it privately two years ago when we needed it. We're now in Wiltshire where it isn't free. Terrific.

I got one alongside the blood tests last year.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Had two girls in Edinburgh, 2003, and 2005 and only got a 12 week scan.

That's it.

No nuchal. No 20 week scan.

There does seem to be an SE England bias doesn't there? Not surprising though. As I understand it (my DB worked in the NHS for 20 years and told me this, though please correct me if you know otherwise), NHS funding works on a per capita basis, so doesn't take any account of the overall health of the population in a particular area. I would imagine that an average 100 people in SE England will be healthier than an average 100 people in, say, Glasgow, or South Wales, for all sorts of socio-cultural reasons, and so the demands they make on the NHS are not so high. As a result, there's more cash around for things like nuchals in those areas than in less affluent areas.

Would be interesting to hear from any HCPs if this is correct, or if I'm talking nonsense.

I should just add I had one of the senior radiographers at my dating scan, and she sort of informally nuchalled me, as she could see there was no nuchal fold problem at that stage. So I am baffled as to why this isn't routinely done anyway as part of the dating scan process.