Maternity ultrasound

About

Our maternity ultrasound departments at Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea and St Mary's hospitals perform all ultrasound scans for women that book their maternity care with the Trust. All women are offered a dating scan at around 12 weeks, with the option of Down's syndrome screening, and an anomaly scan between 18 weeks and 20 weeks and six days. Additional scans are performed at the request of your midwife or doctor for reasons that are specific to your individual pregnancy.

Last year our sonographers performed approximately 17,000 scans at Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea Hospital and approximately 10,000 scans at St Mary's Hospital.

Conditions and treatments

Ultrasound scans use high-frequency sound waves to produce pictures of your baby inside the womb. This is done by building up pictures from the return of sound waves as they bounce back from resistance they meet within your body.

Ultrasound waves are sent to and from the body using a handheld sensor (transducer), which is moved over the surface of your abdomen. The scans are painless and do not involve x-rays. The sonographer will explain the findings of your scan to you and there is a secondary monitor so that you and your partner can view your scan. You can also purchase an image of your baby to take home.

In addition to our regular maternity ultrasound scans, we offer 3D/4D scans of your baby, which offer moving images of your baby. Please note that there is a charge associated with this additional service.