Compulsory ultrasounds

I was told I have my 12 week scan and not one earlier unless there are any issues if I want an ealier one I have to pay private

I think in an ideal world, we ‘d be able to have 8 week scans to see how things are progressing and to ease our minds. However in reality the NHS is already on its knees and not able to accommodate earlier/more scans. It’s important to also assess babies at 12 weeks as they go through vast changes in the 8-12 week window so it’s a great time to review viability. I appreciate the wait can be absolutely agonising, especially after loss etc. I’ll be doing a private scan for my reassurance ☺️

I agree, does anyone know what the reasoning is for having the first scan only after 12 weeks? Is it because the NHS is understaffed or because having an 8 week scan is simply too early to get valuable insight about the baby?

@Riding through the storm it's because it would be too early to detect potential issues as baby is still developing, like Amy said a lot happens between that 8-12 week period so it's safer to wait for 12 weeks when they know baby should be at a particular milestone, also scans are really expensive and the NHS don't particularly like doing them unless necessary. If they did the scans earlier as a standard and scrapped the 12 weeks then potentially a lot of things could be missed xx

I think due to the NHS budget, 12 weeks will be the earliest ultrasound, unless there is bleeding