Early Viability Scan 6-12 weeks £119
An early scan can confirm that the pregnancy is in the right place and not ectopic, date the pregnancy, look for twins and of course check the viability.
From 5 weeks onwards the pregnancy sac can sometimes be visible on ultrasound scan, the first structure inside it that we can see is the yolk sac. This is part of the embryo and looks like a circle. At this point we won’t see the baby yet and it is too early to gain reliable information from a scan.
At 6 weeks a tiny baby with a heartbeat comes into view. It is just a few millimetres in size and can only be seen on transvaginal scan. 6 weeks is the earliest time that an early pregnancy scan should be performed.
The best time to scan is 7 weeks from the first day of your last period. The heartbeat is more reliably seen at 7 weeks due to many women not having exactly 28 day cycles.
For a scan before 8 weeks the best views will be seen using a transvaginal (internal) scan. This is completely safe and does not harm the pregnancy in any way. An empty bladder is needed. If you want to avoid an internal scan then come after 8 weeks when we should be able to see the baby using the abdominal probe, providing your bladder is very full.
Please note that the purpose of our early scans is to diagnose viability. Structural abnormalities are difficult to spot at this early stage in development and best looked for at the 20 week anomaly scan.