The Viability Scan is the first scan in your pregnancy journey. It is sometimes referred to as the “dating scan” or “early pregnancy scan”.
The Early Fetal Scan, which is our signature scan, aims to provide reassurance as early as possible, regarding the health and development of your baby.
By 20-22 weeks of pregnancy, you are roughly halfway through your journey. This is an ideal time to re-examine the anatomical development of your baby using the Anomaly Scan/Anatomy Scan.
The NHS fetal screening program in the UK does not include any additional scans after the 18-20 weeks anomaly scan for pregnant women with no risk factors. This means that for most women, the 18-20 weeks scan is the last scan in their pregnancy. However, in many other countries, there are additional ultrasound scans schedules for the third trimester, which aim to evaluate fetal growth and development.
Special 3rd trimester scan aiming to exclude late pregnancy problems and also checking baby’s growth and wellbeing. 4D scan included.
This is the earliest and most technologically advanced anomaly scan at 10 weeks which aims to exclude 10 major fetal anomalies visible at this stage. At 10 weeks your baby’s main structures have already developed which allows us the chance to perform a first structural examination.
We combine advanced NIPT for Downs syndrome and other chromosomal anomalies with our expert ultrasound anomaly scan to check baby’s health as early as possible.
The main aim of the Presentation Scan is to diagnose breech position or other abnormalities in the baby’s position. The clinician assisting you with the delivery will use this information to prepare for your baby’s birth!
The Viability Scan is the first scan in your pregnancy journey. It is sometimes referred to as the “dating scan” or “early pregnancy scan”.
The Early Fetal Scan, which is our signature scan, aims to provide reassurance as early as possible, regarding the health and development of your baby.
By 20-22 weeks of pregnancy, you are roughly halfway through your journey. This is an ideal time to re-examine the anatomical development of your baby using the Anomaly Scan/Anatomy Scan.
The NHS fetal screening program in the UK does not include any additional scans after the 18-20 weeks anomaly scan for pregnant women with no risk factors. This means that for most women, the 18-20 weeks scan is the last scan in their pregnancy. However, in many other countries, there are additional ultrasound scans schedules for the third trimester, which aim to evaluate fetal growth and development.
Special 3rd trimester scan aiming to exclude late pregnancy problems and also checking baby’s growth and wellbeing. 4D scan included.
This is the earliest and most technologically advanced anomaly scan at 10 weeks which aims to exclude 10 major fetal anomalies visible at this stage. At 10 weeks your baby’s main structures have already developed which allows us the chance to perform a first structural examination.
We combine advanced NIPT for Downs syndrome and other chromosomal anomalies with our expert ultrasound anomaly scan to check baby’s health as early as possible.
The main aim of the Presentation Scan is to diagnose breech position or other abnormalities in the baby’s position. The clinician assisting you with the delivery will use this information to prepare for your baby’s birth!
The Viability Scan is the first scan in your pregnancy journey. It is sometimes referred to as the “dating scan” or “early pregnancy scan”.
If you are planning to have NIPT, viability scan will help you to see how many babies you have and establish proper dating for earliest NIPT appointment.
This is the earliest and most technologically advanced anomaly scan at 10 weeks which aims to exclude 10 severe fetal anomalies visible at this stage. 10 weeks of pregnancy is the best time to use safe 3D medical technology for your baby’s health checkup.
Undoubtedly this scan is the best ultrasound examination to have together with NIPT.
This is our signature scan. Early fetal scan represents thorough top-to-toe examination of the young baby to exclude anomalies as early as possible.
We are trying to exclude >100 serious anomalies, which are usually screened for by the NHS at 19-20 weeks.
Our anomaly scan has more comprehensive checklist of fetal structures than the 19-20 week NHS scan. We perform thorough examination of baby’s face, brain, heart, fingers, and other important organs. The best time for our anomaly scan is 22-23 weeks.
By request you can have uterine arteries Dopplers and cervical length measurements at the same scan.
The NHS fetal screening program does not offer any routine scans after the 18-20 weeks anomaly scan meaning most women won’t have any additional baby’s checks before its birth. This scan aims to screen for birth defects with late manifestation (especially for anomalies of the brain, heart and the kidneys). This period is the best for clinical use of 3D/4D.
We carefully check fetal wellbeing at this stage in order to confirm normal growth and development of the baby. This is more than just growth scan: we check fetal growth and weight, perform fetal blood flow studies (Dopplers), look for placenta and amniotic fluid. We also perform maximal possible check for fetal anatomy and if possible perform 3D/4D.
The main aim of the Presentation Scan (or Pre Delivery Scan) is to diagnose breech position or other abnormalities in the baby’s position. We also perform thorough checkup of fetal growth and estimate fetal weight. We assess fetal wellbeing by umbilical artery and middle cerebral artery Dopplers.
We offer diagnostic second opinion and same day reassurance scans at any stage of you pregnancy. Contact us and our doctors will do maximum effort to accommodate you as soon as possible.
Please note that we have NO facilities for urgent treatment and if you have serious abdominal cramps, bleeding, leakage of fluid, absence of fetal movements or any other abnormal symptoms please go to your (or nearest) hospital.
Early Echo is our special scan to confirm normal development of the baby’s heart. From 12 weeks we can exclude up to 80% prenatally detectable severe fetal heart defects.
This scan is highly recommended if you baby has an increased nuchal translucency (NT), or other unusual findings or anomalies on your 1st trimester scan.
At London Pregnancy Clinic we believe that every scan should be as meticulous as possible. With every scan, our doctor will endeavour to check every aspect of your baby’s development to produce a comprehensive diagnosis. That is why we do not offer the scans below as standalone scans, those examination are organically included (for free) into our other scans. If there is clinical indication, our doctor will recommend you to have those additional examinations during your mainstream scan.
Furthermore, we are a medical clinic and while we extensively use 3D/4D imaging for our medical scanning, we do would not perform a scan just to get nice images of your baby. Please note that in some cases it is also impossible to get good quality baby’s pictures due to its position or other technical reasons.
On your request we can reveal baby’s gender at any scan from 13 weeks.
Currently NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme includes:
Screening for Down’s syndrome is offered to all eligible pregnant women, and takes place between 10⁺⁰ and 20⁺⁰ weeks of pregnancy.
Screening for Edwards’ syndrome and Patau’s syndrome is offered to all eligible pregnant women and takes place between 10⁺⁰ and 14⁺¹ weeks of pregnancy.
Screening for 11 physical conditions as part of the 20-week scan is offered to all pregnant women and takes place between 18⁺⁰ and 20⁺⁶ weeks of pregnancy. Scans can be completed up to 23⁺⁰ weeks of pregnancy.
Your first scan with the NHS is likely to be the Nuchal Translucency/Dating scan at 11-13 weeks. This scan is predominantly designed to screen for the same chromosomal anomalies (Down’s, Edwards and Patau’s syndromes) 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 at 11-13 weeks scan. Our scans are especially designed to screen for every anomaly detectable from an early gestational age and will improve the management of the pregnancy.
Second scan in NHS is usually done at 19-20 weeks it called Anomaly Scan and includes screening for 11 conditions:
In our London Pregnancy Clinic we screen for those 11 conditions among other 100 anomalies at 12-16 weeks Early Fetal Scan, however we are well aware that in some cases those abnormalities can have delayed manifestation (for example diaphragmatic hernia) or being too small to be detected (cleft lip).
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 from the scan and share him with your loved ones via message/social media.
We provide still ultrasound images for you to take away with you on the day. We also send these to you electronically, with a couple of video clips. We provide a USB stick with the full 3D/4D experience.
The answer is you can have as many scans as it needed for appropriate management of your pregnancy. Some mothers with complicated pregnancies, in order to confirm fetal wellbeing, can have scans few times a week. There is no cumulative effects from repeated scans.
Ultrasound is very safe for your baby because it uses just low intensity sound and there is no any radiation exposure. The results of the WHO systematic review on safety of ultrasonography in pregnancy has showed that ultrasonography in pregnancy was not associated with adverse maternal or perinatal outcome, impaired physical or neurological development, increased risk for malignancy in childhood, subnormal intellectual performance or mental diseases.
The only known effect from use of ultrasound equipment is its potential to increase temperature of the body. It can happen only with prolong (more than hour) uninterrupted scanning with high intensity ultrasound modes and especially with use of outdated equipment.
On every scan we control Thermal Index (TI) as an on-screen guide of the potential for tissue heating and strictly following ALARA principle (as low as reasonably achievable) during all scans. For early pregnancy scans we perform ongoing audit of Thermal Index (TI) and time of the scan.
We think that the best scan schedule for uncomplicated pregnancy is:
We think that essential scans for every future mother for uncomplicated pregnancy are:
This minimalistic schedule will give you:
Early Fetal Echocardiography is the most advanced and comprehensive ultrasound scan in early pregnancy.
We will perform:
You can have also NIPT for the most accurate Down’s syndrome screening as add-on option during this scan
Please contact us if you have any requirements for specific ultrasound scan or test
36 Spital Square
London E1 6DY
United Kingdom
Monday – Friday
9am-9pm
Saturday
10am-4pm
Tube:
Elizabeth, Central, Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines to Liverpool Street or Northern line to Moorgate.
Overground at Shoreditch High Street. All stations within 5-10 minutes' walk.
© Agentur Karl & Karl - London Pregnancy Clinic