Pregnancy Scans

EDITORS NOTE: IF YOU START READING THIS THREAD MAKE SURE YOU READ THE 6TH POST!

Does anybody know of a hospital or clinic who perform pregnancy scans. I have had a horrible experience in the NHS. The Ultrasonographer was completely silent throughout my scan. I would like some further reassurance from somebody who actually cares about what they’re doing and takes the time to explain everything. I know this will mean going private. I live in Alderley Edge but work in Manchester so am really flexible as long as I get the right place.

That’s a very sweeping statement Sally.  I attended numerous scans with my wife at Macclesfield hospital and on every occasion all of the staff we encountered were absolutely superb.  We all have a bad day sometimes!

Hi Sally, we’ve recently used the Bridgewater Hospital for dating and nuchal scans and then the Pall Mall Medical in Manchester City Centre for a 3d and 4d.  I’d recommend both places.  The Pall Mall Centre perhaps just has the edge if I was choosing one over the other and is very accessible if you work in town. We did find the experience with the NHS different to the private scans although at our 20 week scan the sonographer did explain that she wouldn’t talk much whilst she was working as her job was to perform very many checks in a small space of time which is understandable.  The private places have more time to take the pictures and indulge you in the “experience” which is what you are paying for.  We found both NHS and private services both excellent for what they were aimed at - good luck !

Hi Sally, first of all, congrtaulations! I also attended numerous scans at Macclesfield 6 short months ago and can only tell you that, without exception, everyone was personable and attentive. Conversely, during the same period I had private medical treatment and received a pretty poor service. Macclesfield General offer free tours/visits for pregnant ladies I believe. Why don’t you pop down and meet some of the staff? I’m sure this will put your mind at ease.

EDITORS NOTE: IF YOU READ THIS POST MAKE SURE YOU READ THE POST BELOW!

Thanks to all who replied. I decided to go with the Bridgewater Hospital in Manchester as they could accommodate an evening appointment. What a contrast to my last scan (which wasn’t at Macclesfield General by the way). The sonographer was [NAME REMOVED] - she was absolutely fantastic. She seemed genuinely thrilled for us when we first saw the images on the screen. She explained absolutely everything and made us feel like VIPs. There is free parking and complimentary tea and coffee on arrival at the hospital and the staff were so lovely and my husband was very impressed as there was a famous footballer having a medical there at the same time - we thought the cameras and reporters were there for us! I have now booked for a Nuchal Translucency Scan to test for Down Syndrome. Apparently this is the only place outside of London who provides the results on the same day. In fact Santosh told me I will leave my appointment with the results. A friend of mine has just had a nuchal scan at St Mary’s and has to wait up to 2 weeks for her results! I couldn’t cope with that! I have also booked an appointment with My Own Midwife (MOM - how cute!), a private midwife service also based at the Bridgewater Hospital. I’ll report back when I’ve had my appointment.

EDITORS NOTE: The name of the sonographer was removed at her request as understandably she does not wish to be connected with this post.

This whole thread would appear to have been an elaborate creation so that Manchester Fertility Services located in the Bridgewater Hospital could promote its services to the audience of alderleyedge.com without paying a penny. What is completely outrageous in this particular case is that someone located within the Bridgewater Hospital has gone to the lengths of posting negative comments about the NHS in their first post setting up this charade.

The last post by “Sally Bench” reads like complete marketing spam and this set alarm bells ringing. Therefore we checked the IP address used by Sally to connect to the Internet, which according to publicly available records is registered to “Manchester Fertility Services” (the same IP address was used for both of Sally’s posts). Then a quick web search led us to their web site. According to their “get in touch” page Manchester Fertility Services is surprise, surprise, based at the Bridgewater Hospital.

Since launching this web site we have been amazed at how many businesses have attempted to post self-reviews and create elaborate forum posts so they can then promote themselves, but this one well and truly over steps the mark.

Martin,

Well done - Good detective work!

Having just done a quick search on Google, there is a similar thread on another internet forum. I suspect they may well have used this tactic on a number of occasions!

Well done Martin, few people realise that you are seldom ‘truly’ anonymous on the internet, great piece of detective work as Malcolm says. It might be worth looking at some added functionality to flag discussion threads to AlderleyEdge.com, similiar to other sites with UGC content, just a thought.

Carry on the good work.

The people behind this should be ashamed by their posts. Well done to everyone who even without realising the scam, spoke up in favour of the folks at MDGH and the NHS, who in my experience have been fantastic.

Idiots - proxy IP addresses are readily available either for free or at a modest subscription - I bet that would have beaten Martin :-)))

Hi, I originally mentioned the Bridgwater Hospital in my post of 22 June as one of two recommendations to help out Sally (who I don’t know!). I was also at pains to point out the merits of the NHS as well. I am not connected with the Bridgwater in any way.  If I had not mentioned the Bridgwater in response to her post then I am not sure how Sally’s purported promotional “scam” would have got off the ground?

Hi Emma, I did not think for a moment you were connected with the Bridgewater, especially considering you said “The Pall Mall Centre perhaps just has the edge”. The way these scams work is the unscrupulous individual posts a message seeking advice and then answers it themselves, or under another pseudonym, some point later with a glowing review, as Sally Bench did on the 28th. It did not need your post to get it off the ground.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this was the work of someone closely connected to the Bridgewater. I have actually spoken with executive director of the hospital on the subject and was left with the impression she would be making some sort of statement to explain what has happened here but can only assume that they have decided not to.

P.S. Mark - you’d be amazed at my powers of deduction - a proxy IP address would not have beaten me in this particular case.