Private Dating & Viability Scan in London

A dating scan is an ultrasound that measures your baby to work out how many weeks pregnant you are and to calculate an estimated due date. It also checks the fetal heartbeat, confirms whether the pregnancy is in the uterus and identifies whether you’re expecting one baby or more. Here it costs £149 and is available from 8 to 22 weeks.

A viability scan is an early pregnancy ultrasound that confirms the pregnancy is developing as expected — a heartbeat present where it should be visible, the pregnancy inside the uterus, and measurements matching your dates. It’s the same appointment as a dating scan; the name simply reflects which question matters most to you.

Note that a viability scan in pregnancy is unrelated to a cardiac viability scan, which is a heart test assessing whether heart muscle is still living after a heart attack.

They’re the same ultrasound with a different emphasis. A viability scan focuses on confirming the heartbeat and that early pregnancy is progressing. A dating scan focuses on measuring the baby to establish gestational age and your estimated due date. This appointment covers both within the 8 to 22 week window.

Dating is most accurate in the first trimester, where crown-rump length measurement is typically within about 5 days of the true gestational age. Accuracy widens as pregnancy progresses: roughly 7–10 days between 14 and 20 weeks, around 2 weeks between 20 and 30 weeks, and up to about 3 weeks after 30 weeks.

That’s why an early dating scan is preferred if your dates are uncertain, and why a due date established early isn’t usually revised by later scans.

Here the Dating & Viability Scan is £149, all-inclusive, with no deposit and no separate consultation fee. Private dating scans elsewhere in London commonly run from around £120 to £250, and some clinics quote a lower headline price but require a deposit or charge separately for images or the written report.

Between 10 and 14 weeks is the strongest window, because your baby is large enough to measure precisely and dating is at its most accurate. From 8 to 10 weeks the scan is still useful and focuses more on viability and heartbeat. From 15 to 22 weeks it remains helpful if you missed a routine scan or your dates are uncertain, though dating precision reduces.

5 weeks is usually too early for a meaningful scan. At that stage only a small gestational sac may be visible, with no heartbeat yet, so a scan often can’t confirm viability and may need repeating.

Our Early Pregnancy Scan is available from 6 weeks, and this Dating & Viability Scan from 8 weeks, when a heartbeat is normally clearly visible.

Seven weeks isn’t too early to see a heartbeat, but it’s early for dating. This Dating & Viability Scan runs from 8 weeks; if you’re 6–7 weeks and mainly want viability reassurance, our Early Pregnancy Scan is the better fit. For the most accurate dating and due date, 10–14 weeks is the ideal window.

No. Ultrasound is a painless examination. Warm water-based gel is applied to your lower tummy and the probe is moved over the skin — you may feel firm pressure, particularly with a full bladder, but it shouldn’t hurt.

If a transvaginal scan is needed it’s usually described as similar to a smear test: uncomfortable for some, but not painful. It’s only performed with your consent and can be stopped at any time.

You lie on the examination couch and expose your lower tummy. Warm gel is applied and the sonographer moves the probe over the skin to bring the pregnancy into view, taking measurements and checking the heartbeat. It usually takes 15 to 20 minutes.

If views are unclear, or the uterus tilts backwards, a transvaginal scan may be discussed as it gives a closer view — always with your consent.

You lie on the couch and the sonographer moves the probe over your lower tummy, usually with a comfortably full bladder. Your baby is measured to estimate gestational age and your due date, the heartbeat is checked when visible, and the scan confirms pregnancy location and whether you’re expecting one baby or more. It takes about 15–20 minutes, and findings are explained on the day with a same-day digital report and images.

Yes. The sonographer measures your baby and calculates an estimated due date from that measurement, which is more reliable than dating from your last menstrual period if your cycles are irregular or you’re unsure of your dates. Accuracy depends on gestational age and image quality.

Pregnancy is counted from the first day of your last menstrual period (LMP), not from conception — so you’re considered about two weeks pregnant by the time of conception. Because this assumes a regular cycle, a dating scan gives a measurement-based estimate that may adjust your dates, which is why an early scan is useful if your cycle is irregular or your LMP is uncertain.

Yes. The fetal heartbeat is checked whenever it’s expected and visible for your stage of pregnancy. From 8 weeks onwards it’s normally clearly seen. If findings are uncertain, a follow-up scan or clinical review may be recommended.

Yes. The scan identifies whether you’re expecting one baby or more, and from around 10 weeks can usually also comment on how a twin pregnancy is arranged. Very early findings can occasionally need a repeat scan to confirm.

Yes, a comfortably full bladder helps considerably because it lifts the uterus into clearer view. Drink around 500ml to 1 litre of water 45 to 60 minutes before your appointment and try not to empty your bladder until after the scan. You don’t need to be uncomfortable — full, not painful.

The scan is normally performed transabdominally, over the lower tummy. A transvaginal scan is sometimes discussed if you’re at the earlier end of the window, if the uterus tilts backwards, or if abdominal views aren’t clear enough. It’s only ever performed with your informed consent.

The ultrasound itself usually takes 15 to 20 minutes, depending on gestational age, your baby’s position and image quality. Allow additional time for check-in and for the findings to be explained.

Diagnostic ultrasound uses sound waves, not ionising radiation, and is a routine part of NHS antenatal care. Scans are performed following recognised safety principles, keeping exposure as low as reasonably achievable while obtaining the clinical information needed.

The dating purpose overlaps, but this is an additional private scan rather than a replacement. It doesn’t include nuchal translucency measurement or combined first-trimester screening, and it doesn’t replace NHS maternity booking, national screening or your 20-week anomaly scan.

Many patients book it because they want dating earlier than their NHS appointment, or because their dates are uncertain.

The NHS schedules its first routine scan at roughly 11–14 weeks because that window lets accurate dating and the nuchal translucency measurement be done together, as part of combined screening. It isn’t that earlier scans aren’t possible — they simply aren’t part of the routine pathway. A private dating or viability scan lets you check viability and dates earlier, for reassurance, alongside your NHS care.

A dating and viability scan isn’t an anomaly scan. It can sometimes flag an obvious major concern or a problem with the pregnancy’s location, but it isn’t designed to examine your baby’s anatomy in detail. Structural checks are covered by the anomaly scan at 18–24 weeks, and chromosomal conditions such as Down’s syndrome are screened by NIPT — both separate appointments.

No referral is needed to book privately. If you have previous scan reports, IVF or embryo transfer dates, hospital letters or your NHS maternity notes, bring them — they give useful clinical context for dating.

Your sonographer explains the findings before you leave, and a digital report with representative images is emailed the same day. A female sonographer can be requested when booking; availability varies by date and clinic, so mention it in your booking notes or call ahead.

We have two clinics. Central London is at 27 Welbeck Street, W1G 8EN, in the Harley Street Medical District, minutes from Bond Street, Oxford Circus and Marylebone. St Albans is at 54–56 Victoria Street, AL1 3HZ, close to St Albans City station. Both are open seven days a week.