10 Weeks Baby Scan at the London Pregnancy Clinic

Currently all 10-week anomaly scans are performed by Dr Fred Ushakov, who is an internationally recognised expert in this field. Fred is a very passionate teacher and is making maximum effort to train the technique to more doctors and to spread the knowledge.

Many pregnant women are anxious about the health of their babies within the earlier weeks of pregnancy. The reasons for this are different, however the most common are:

• previous miscarriage,
• IVF pregnancy,
• unintentional use of alcohol,
• missed doses of folic acid,
• use of different medications,
• severe sickness,
• bleeding,
• unhealthy diet,
• sudden loss of pregnancy symptoms,

If you are worried regarding any of these conditions or other problems, our 10-week scan is exactly for you. The 10 week scan is designed to provide an early reassurance for expecting parents.

The 10-week fetus scan is also designed for every pregnant woman who wishes to have NIPT at the earliest possible stage. Many parents choose to screen for the chance of Down’s syndrome in the first trimester. Nowadays this is possible with a non-invasive prenatal test at 10 weeks. However, the majority of fetal anomalies are structural (physical) and some of them can be more severe that Down’s syndrome.

Unfortunately, all structural anomalies will be missed by NIPT.  That is why we take this opportunity to conduct an early screening of the baby’s structures to exclude 10 major structural anomalies before running NIPT.

• London Pregnancy Clinic clinicians are leaders in the field of fetal medicine – all the scans are performed by fully qualified, trained and GMC registered doctors

• We have a unique and individual approach in that we do not ‘leave any stone unturned’ – we provide the most comprehensive assessment of the development of your baby possible at each stage of pregnancy

• We use an advanced ultrasound scanner with unique high-resolution probes

• We do not need you to have a full bladder for the scan

• We’ll date your pregnancy to calculate your due date, whilst also examining the baby’s development

• We will explain the next steps, scans and tests recommended throughout your pregnancy

• You will get digital and hard copies of your 10-week scan photos, clips and an expert report

• We support you and provide guidelines in the case of abnormalities on the scan or NIPT

• We rescan you for free in the case of inconclusive scan findings or a technically incomplete scan

• Referrals arranged as required

Your first scan with the NHS is likely to be the nuchal translucency/dating scan at 11-14 weeks. This scan is predominantly designed to screen for the same chromosomal anomalies as NIPT using an older methodology developed in the 1990s. NIPT is a far more advanced test developed in 2011 with a much higher accuracy.

Most crucially, majority of NHS Trusts have no protocols for structural anomalies screening until 20 weeks. Our scans are specially designed to screen for every anomaly detectable from an early gestational age and will improve the management of the pregnancy.

The best results are obtained by using a combination of the transabdominal (on the surface of your tummy) and transvaginal (a slim transducer will be inserted through the vagina) scans. The visualisation of the different fetal structures depends on many factors, such as the position of the womb, position of the fetus, and maternal abdominal wall thickness.

The transvaginal scan is preferable because we use unique high-resolution transducers which are specially designed for this early scan. However, in other cases the transabdominal scan performed by our advanced transducers is enough for a thorough check of the baby. You will always have the option to opt-out of a transvaginal scan.

We also use an advanced 3D technology to examine the fetal head, brain, body and limbs. Please note that this option is only available on a transvaginal (internal) scan.

In short: NO.

Empty Bladder Policy: Our advanced ultrasound scanner can produce high quality diagnostic images without needing you to have a full urinary bladder. This eliminates the need to feel uncomfortable before or during the scan.

Therefore, there is no need to arrive with a full bladder and we want you to feel as comfortable as possible. We also have a ladies’ room in our clinic, which you can use anytime you need.

What we offer differs fundamentally from the traditional nuchal translucency (NT) scan. The 10-week ultrasound scan is an advanced systematic examination of all developed fetal structures performed by an expert. This method is very thorough as it uses recent technological advancements of a high-end ultrasound scanner and special probes to produce high-resolution images at an early stage. We check all visible baby’s structures, even its tiny hands and feet. Ultimately, the aim of the 10-week scan is to exclude as many fetal anomalies as possible and provide reassurance to the parents.

On the other hand, the nuchal translucency (NT) scan was developed nearly 30 years ago (1992), during the early days of ultrasound technology. Revolutionary at the time, the NT scan measures the amount of fluid in the back of the fetal neck. Increased NT is a nonspecific marker for chromosomal, genetic, cardiac, and structural problems; however, increased NT is also not an uncommon feature in a normal pregnancy. Conversely, most babies born with other anomalies, may have normal readings of NT.

Currently, NT readings are being used by the NHS as a part of a combined screening to assess the chance for Down’s syndrome, Edward’s syndrome and Patau’s syndrome. The NT test can currently be done in any NHS Trust and is performed by specially trained sonographers, which have regular external audits.

There is no reliable clinical research regarding measurements of NT at 10 weeks and we do not use the NT thickness measurement for the assessment of Down’s syndrome (Trisomy 21). Instead, at 10 weeks we use the more recently developed (2011) non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT), which has a superior detection rate and less false positive results compared to the NT quantitative measure.

Yes, of course. We use Tricefy which is a secure cloud system to upload images from your scan to be viewed before you even leave the scanning room! You will also receive a hard and soft copy of your detailed ultrasound report as well as some high-quality colour printouts for you to take home with you!

Tricefy also allows you to download the images and videos from the scan to share with your loved ones via message/social media.

No, we think it is outdated approach and the best way is to perform both the dating scan at 10-weeks and NIPT at 10-11 weeks. The benefit of this approach is that the tests are performed as early as technically possible.

Understandably it will be impossible to visualise some fetal structures and organs at 10 weeks and some structural anomalies will be undiagnosed at this very early stage as the fetus hasn’t fully formed. Keeping this in mind, we recommend performing our early fetal scan at 15-16 weeks for further reassurance and exclusion of majority severe structural anomalies.

Learn more about our early pregnancy scans.

10-week scan is the scan, which can exclude the major structural anomalies at the time of NIPT. It is the earliest possible anomaly scan. It aims to exclude 10 severe structural anomalies at 10 weeks.

Early fetal scan is a comprehensive early anomaly scan which we perform at 12-16 weeks. It aims to exclude >100 different structural anomalies.