Pregnancy scan pictures - How much?

WestonDave

Morg - its a discussion forum - it'd be a dull place without different views!

My understanding is that the printer is used to provide a picture for the notes (these days everything is documented in case of law suits later) - whether that came about as a side-effect of doing pictures for mum and dad or the pictures for mum and dad came as a spin off from the official use I don't know.

As for cuts in essential services - our midwife reckons the area is short of midwives to the extent that you now no longer (again a change from two years ago) have a named midwife from one of three teams, you are now just allocated to one of two teams and see whoever is available.

To be honest I'm not objecting to paying if that's the going rate, but it does feel a bit unfair that having paid the same taxes as everyone else, we get one less scan and fleeced for photos when others are getting them cheap or free! I realise things are tight in the NHS and after DS1 was born we made a donation to the rural hospital that he and DW went to, to recuperate after the birth as it was under threat of closure. All I'm asking for is a level playing field!

As an aside it will be interesting to see how the radiographer reacts to these charges - I would imagine its not pleasant for them to have to collect as they'll undoubtedly get some stick from people who don't realise they are just doing what they are told.

PurpleDuck

I paid just under a fiver 2 weeks ago for mine. From the palava I had to go through to pay for the picture I got the feeling they didn't really want you to have them :rolleyes:

The first one I had done 3 years ago cost me £2.

jo101_2

Hi

Mine were free in 2004 and I had 12 wk, 20 week and a few other growth scans after that and had pics from them all. I was in spain when I had my first and also had the scan videoed each time and pics all for no extra charge.

Some health authorities are really cashing in on this.

Jo

modgit

Have just returned from our 36 week scan, where obviously bump is too big for photo, however, we had one at 12 and 20, and was charged £2 each. We did get a couple of different shots (face and whole body) and was just charged the one £2.

Sting_2

I think I actually remember when it first became possible for you to get your own scan pictures. At the time hospitals were concerned that they might be taken to court over possible complications if the sonographer failed to pick up on a something which was evident from the scan, since having the scan photo was 'evidence'.

Thankfully you can still get scan pictures, and I don't know of any court cases resulting from scan pictures. I still have in my scan photos album with all the other hundreds of pictures of my daughter.

jellyhead

there's a notice up in the waiting room here saying they charge £2 per photo because they haven't finished paying for the scan machine yet, but the sonographers just print off a pic or 2 without asking for money. i forgot the first time but after my second scan i asked how to pay and there was a box on her desk. i got the impression they didn't care whether we paid or not.

but when they press to print the pic they then get on with something else while it is being printed - people wanting more than one copy of the same picture takes time and holds up the process which is why people have to sit in the waiting room with a full bladder for an hour or more after their appointment should have been. perhaps charging per pic puts people off doing this, you can't really ask for 5 copies without handing over some money

skylight

Last week I paid £2 to see daughter number 4!

With DD3 and DD2 (3 and 5 years ago) it was £2 then as well, but they gave me lots of pictures to take away on both times, so the price hasn't changed.

The money is used solely for the maternity unit and over the years they have paid for ned sono-graph machines, redecorating the labour rooms etc. So I don't mind spending as they are cheap at £2 and even more so when the money is not being shoved into the bigger picture of the hospital coffers.

[Deleted User]

We live in Sussex and due to problems I needed a scan at 8 weeks and 11 weeks. As it was an EPU unit, we didn't pay for either pics, we were just given them. We didn't get a 12 weeks scan as we had one the week before.

At our official 20 weeks scan (21 weeks for us), we were told we were having a boy as we did ask the sex and were given a picture. There was a box for donations but they didnt' seem to care if you did or didn't. We took my parents with us as they'd never seen a scan being done before. They were so impressed my Dad put some money in the box, but I don't know much.

As a side issue, my DF scanned all the pics onto his laptop and we emailed them to people, no extra expense and we'll still have them long after the originals have faded.

A word of caution, DO NOT LAMINATE THEM, they will not survive, the paper goes completely black! Luckily we scanned the first one and had a paper copy too. No real loss of image either.

I agree though with the OP, there should be a level playing field, not a lottery depending on your postcode.

Money_Maker_Shaker

At ours its £2.50 for thermal images (paper ones) and £5 for proper photo ones which they claim are less likely to fade.

Whilst I do think its quite a bit of money I don't begrudge it as I see it as an extra on top of the basic service, and if I'm honest I'd prefer my taxes to be used to fund just the scan.

tinkerbell1978

hmm my boy is two now and i recall we paid a couple of quid paper like ones £10 now that is steep!