baby scan rip off digusting if you ask me

Susan_Frost

I dont now for sure, but I think it is helpful to the hospital to know the sex of the baby cos some "abnormalities" are more prone in one sex than the other. That is the whole point of scanning. So they will know easily enough.

I would say this is another money making, post code lottery. In my area I am sure they dont charge for telling the sex, though it is a pound or so for a copy of the scan. Tell your local TV about it, that might shake them up. Though there is a big town nearby where I understand they dont tell people because gender is important to some of the population and I was told there could be a risk of abortions. But people like that would find out anyway.

My friend did not want to know the sex of hers, and told them so, but the person doing the scan went and left the scanner right over the sex organs when saying "do you want to see the baby" and when she looked she could clearly see. She was upset cos for her it spoilt the surprise of the birth. It was careless of the scanner, but not malicious.

Certainly, if two of you are in the room, try and get a good look at the scan as they are doing it. They have to check everywhere on the baby.

It's a personal thing whether people want to know or not. I cannot see why others on this site say it should not matter. Each to his own.

nadnad

Susan_Frost wrote: »

Certainly, if two of you are in the room, try and get a good look at the scan as they are doing it. They have to check everywhere on the baby.

Errr i wouldnt go by this AT ALL!! If trained sonographers get the sex wrong sometimes (and readily admit to doing so) i don't think parents to be would have a clue what they are looking at! :rolleyes:

daphne_descends

nadnad wrote: »

Errr i wouldnt go by this AT ALL!! If trained sonographers get the sex wrong sometimes (and readily admit to doing so) i don't think parents to be would have a clue what they are looking at! :rolleyes:

After having my son's genitals highlighted on a screen for me I still didn't know what I was looking at!

The 4D scan was somewhat clearer though

feelinggood_2

daphne_descends wrote: »

After having my son's genitals highlighted on a screen for me I still didn't know what I was looking at!

The 4D scan was somewhat clearer though

I had a rather over-excited and newly qualified sonographer for my private gender scan, and I've got a 20 minute video of his genitals (the baby, not the sonographer!) from various angles and close-ups. She pointed everything out, but I can't tell at all, even watching the DVD back!

Hopefully she'll focus on the rest of him a bit more on the 4D scan! :eek:

Fly_Baby

nadnad wrote: »

fly baby you really are getting off the OP's post.

Question: Is £50 a rip off to know sex of baby? answer: yes/no.

We aren't talking about NHS srevices as a whole.

The majority of people don't seem to think its a rip off and I'm with them. Its not essential to know the sex of your baby and as previously said if a hospital won't tell for whatever reasons, thats their perogative, or if the sonographer can't tell you then thats the end of it. Pay for a private scan and be done with it. Or in this case pay the £50 to the NHS and be done with it.

Well, I never even heard about 1) sexing scans as such and 2)hospitals charging to know the sex. And I had more than enough experience of dealing with hospitals and new mums. So I don't think this charge is going to be adopted as a general practice as yet.

That's the hospital's prerogative but IMO - and that what's we are expressing here - it is just mean of them if it doesn't cost them neither time nor money but means a lot to the parent.

Referring to the general level of NHS services was just a response to earlier posts about how busy they are providing proper healthcare and hence not having 1 extra minute to spare to have a look at the baby's genitals and make their patient happy/save them £50 +.

nadnad

Fly_Baby wrote: »

Well, I never even heard about 1) sexing scans as such and 2)hospitals charging to know the sex. And I had more than enough experience of dealing with hospitals and new mums. So I don't think this charge is going to be adopted as a general practice as yet.

That's the hospital's prerogative but IMO - and that what's we are expressing here - it is just mean of them if it doesn't cost them neither time nor money but means a lot to the parent.

Referring to the general level of NHS services was just a response to earlier posts about how busy they are providing proper healthcare and hence not having 1 extra minute to spare to have a look at the baby's genitals and make their patient happy/save them £50 +.

fair enough - but you have to concede that sometimes its not just "1 extra minute", my baby had his legs tightly closed for about 30 minutes throughout my scan, - it took ages for the sonographer to get all the measurements required because he was in an awkward position and he was a real wriggler, the only reason she was able to tell us that he was a he was because we were in there for so long and eventually he decided to relax his little legs and have a play with his bits! :rotfl:

If she'd got the measurements straight away but wanted to find out the sex she would have spent about 20 further minutes poking and prodding until he decided to move - 20 minutes when the next lady could have been and gone.

Fly_Baby

nadnad wrote: »

fair enough - but you have to concede that sometimes its not just "1 extra minute", my baby had his legs tightly closed for about 30 minutes throughout my scan, - it took ages for the sonographer to get all the measurements required because he was in an awkward position and he was a real wriggler, the only reason she was able to tell us that he was a he was because we were in there for so long and eventually he decided to relax his little legs and have a play with his bits! :rotfl:

If she'd got the measurements straight away but wanted to find out the sex she would have spent about 20 further minutes poking and prodding until he decided to move - 20 minutes when the next lady could have been and gone.

nadnad, of course, this shouldn't be happening. And I wrote so in my earlier post - if the baby sex is not seen easily then the sonographer can just say that and not spend any extra time on that patient. In fact, that's what's happening quite often as I hear - that there was just no way to see the gender during the scan so the parent doesn't know.

But if the baby is all willing to cooperate and it takes one move of that scanning device to see the gender... Why make it difficult for the patient who has already come for her scan and is getting it anyway?

And it is not just the money. To think about having to book that extra gender scan, then make time for the appointment (and if the mother is still working or has older children?), then travel/drive there, wait in the queue - just for the sake of that one move of the scanning device that would have barely taken a minute or any extra effort on the part of the NHS sonographer who was doing her scan anyway?

ALIBOBSY

My local hospital will tell you if they see it during the course of the abnormality scan, but wouldn't take ages to check. This seems to be the fairest compromise, if it is obvious during the rest of the scan and the info wanted it can be given for free, but agree nhs time shouldn't be wasted.

ali x

jellyhead

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Hmm.. ours is due in June, i think i'll be going against my wife's guidance and packing my 'good' camera

Off topic, but what seems to sway a lot of parents is the bounty photos coming with baby announcement cards, so you add one of the photos to the announcement. Lots of people seemed to like that idea.

I really liked the credit card sized plastic card with your baby's photo, so I forked out £45 for the photos but once I'd left the hospital I wished I'd saved my money because the photo didn't look like my baby, and the credit card was in my purse which got stolen soon after leaving hospital.

Grandmothers liked getting the birth announcement card with the photo on though.

galvanizersbaby

jellyhead wrote: »

Off topic, but what seems to sway a lot of parents is the bounty photos coming with baby announcement cards, so you add one of the photos to the announcement. Lots of people seemed to like that idea.

I really liked the credit card sized plastic card with your baby's photo, so I forked out £45 for the photos but once I'd left the hospital I wished I'd saved my money because the photo didn't look like my baby, and the credit card was in my purse which got stolen soon after leaving hospital.

Grandmothers liked getting the birth announcement card with the photo on though.

I'm guilty of buying the Bounty photo's on both occasions I'm afraid!
My son's picture was actually really good but my daughter's not so great but because I'd brought my son's I felt I had to buy my daughters on principle (he was just a more photographic baby I think!)

I still have my son's Bounty pic on display (for my daughter I got another picture when she was looking a bit less spotty!)

I liked the announcement and thankyou cards too but I guess they are easy enough to make on Snapfish or one of the other photographic sites nowdays.

Can't remember being tempted by the credit card thingy that came with the pack though Jellyhead