The Baby Scan Studio

The Baby Scan Studio: private ultrasound scanning in Marlow and Ascot

The Baby Scan Studio is a private ultrasound service operating from two clinics in the Thames Valley, one in Marlow (Buckinghamshire) and one in Ascot (Berkshire). It describes its work as covering both medical, diagnostic scans and bonding and reassurance scans in pregnancy, and it treats women from the age of 18 upwards. The service is part of CS Partners Medical Ltd and is presented as part of The West London Miscarriage Clinic.

The clinics state that they have been inspected by the CQC and were rated 'GOOD'. Standard appointments are scheduled for 30 minutes, with the exception of the gender scan, a duration the clinic links to a detailed and thorough assessment of the pregnancy.

Scan packages offered

The catalogue of services spans pregnancy, gynaecology and general ultrasound. The studio lists the following options:

• Gender scan, presented as a brief, low-cost alternative at £50.
• Reassurance scan and early reassurance scan.
• Early pregnancy scan.
• Early anatomy scan, for 12 to 15 weeks, priced at £180 and performed with a next-generation Voluson E8 machine.
• Detailed scan.
• Growth scan.
• Nuchal translucency scan.
• NIPT testing through the TDL Genetics test, available from 10 weeks at £399, and the TDL/IONA Panorama test.
• Gynaecology scans.
• Abdominal scans.

Pregnancy scanning and screening is offered from six weeks to term. The clinics also monitor women undergoing IVF treatment at home or abroad, and carry out general ultrasound including abdominal scans, thyroid and testes scans and leg Doppler scans for DVT. Blood taking is listed among the services.

How gynaecological scans are performed

The studio explains that a gynaecological ultrasound examines the female pelvis, specifically the ovaries and uterus. It states that all of its scans are performed trans-vaginally because this produces clearer images than scanning with a full bladder, and that in a few circumstances a full-bladder scan is necessary after a trans-vaginal scan, which is discussed with the patient.

Equipment and the scanning room

Both clinics describe spacious and comfortable scanning studios using current equipment linked to a flat-screen monitor, so that family and friends can watch the scan as it happens. The Marlow clinic occupies the first floor of Crown House within an integrated clinic and has six on-site parking spaces, with the Riley Road pay-and-display car park adjacent. The Ascot clinic, described as the most recently refurbished, is on the first floor of 61b High Street, with one hour of public parking on the high street and longer stays in local car parks. Both sites are upstairs and neither has a lift.

In both buildings the studio works alongside My Specialist GP, a private GP practice, which the company presents as allowing continuity of care for its patients.

Sonographers and staff

The Baby Scan Studio is owned and run by Cathy Stewart, who leads the service. She qualified as a Radiographer in 1986 and in Ultrasound in 1992, worked for five years as a sonographer in the NHS and then joined GE Healthcare, where she spent several years in international product development involving research and testing of technologies such as 3D and 4D imaging and contrast media in ultrasound. After a career break she worked for private clinics in London before founding CS Partners Medical and The Baby Scan Studio. She has spoken at British Medical Ultrasound Society meetings and at its annual scientific conference, has been a guest lecturer at Liverpool University, presented a research paper on 3D imaging in TVT mesh complications at the ISUOG meeting in Berlin and the BMUS conference in Harrogate in 2019, and sits on the BMUS educational committee, jointly organising national ultrasound training days.

The Marlow clinic's team includes two senior sonographers. Sylvie Johnstone works in both NHS and private settings, performs abdominal, obstetric and gynaecological ultrasound, and also works at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford; she scans on Mondays. Shradha Amin qualified as a Radiographer and specialised in Ultrasound in 1984, trained in London and gained the DMU qualification that year, and has worked in NHS and private practice, including CDS Ultrasound, The Portland Hospital, Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. She has experience with IVF patients and high-level obstetrics and mainly works on Saturdays. The Marlow reception team includes Jonny Ruffell and Siobhan Donohue. The company states that its sonographers are UK trained and state registered, with years of scanning experience, and are either radiographers or midwives.

Patient feedback cited by the clinic

The site reproduces comments from patients, including one from a woman scanned at six weeks who praised the expertise and quality of the equipment, another who was seen promptly for a gynaecological scan and received her report at the same appointment, and a couple who attended for a dating and reassurance scan and described the sonographer as warm and reassuring.