"Some high-street clinics are putting lives at risk by allowing unqualified non-specialists to carry out baby scans, the Society of Radiographers (SoR) has warned. The trade union says its members have seen examples of pregnant women being incorrectly diagnosed with serious health conditions and given dangerous advice. Other expectant mums have been sent to hospital after being told an abnormality meant they would need to end the pregnancy only to find their baby was completely healthy."
""One time, we had a lady referred [to hospital] from a private clinic, who was eight or nine weeks pregnant," says Elaine Brooks, Midlands regional officer at the SoR. "The sonographer at the private clinic said there was no heartbeat and that the baby was very, very malformed, and they sent her in for an induced miscarriage. "We started scanning the lady, who was in tears, and on the scan there was a clearly beautiful nine-week pregnancy with a heartbeat. It was absolutely fine.""
"The trade union, which is also the professional body for medical imaging, says it has seen other examples of bad practice by some private clinics including: Major foetal abnormalities such as spina bifida or polycystic kidneys being missed Ectopic pregnancies, where the fertilised egg implants itself outside of the womb, either not being diagnosed or being falsely diagnosed A radiographer continuing to work as a private sonographer despite having been struck off and banned from working for the NHS due to sexual misc"
Some high-street clinics allow unqualified non-specialists to perform private baby scans, resulting in incorrect diagnoses and harmful guidance. Pregnant women have been told their pregnancies were non-viable or severely malformed despite healthy fetuses, prompting needless hospital referrals and induced miscarriages. Private reassurance, souvenir or sexing scans are offered before the routine 20-week NHS check, often without proper medical triage. Reported failures include missed major foetal abnormalities, missed or false ectopic pregnancy diagnoses, and banned radiographers continuing private sonography, all of which increase risk to mothers and babies.
Read at www.bbc.com
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