Niamh Cooke, who is 31 weeks pregnant, went for a 3D/4D scan with her husband Brendan purely “for the photographic opportunity, not for medical reasons”, she explains.
As she has a history of miscarriages, she had weekly scans between weeks six and 12 at the Coombe; she also got her anomaly scan there at 21 weeks.
They paid €220 for the 3D pictures and DVD at MD Ultrasound on South William Street in Dublin city centre.
“The pictures were pretty amazing,” says Niamh, who thinks it is a particularly valuable experience for the father-to-be.
The pregnant woman is feeling all the movements, she points out, but when the man sees the baby so clearly, it brings home to him what is really happening. “Brendan was more emotional than me,” she says.
The sight of the baby also helped to concentrate their minds on choosing a name. They already knew the sex of the baby and had a number of names shortlisted, but as they looked at the face they ruled out a few of those.
Maeve Noonan from Cork, the mother of a 15-month-old boy, is on her second pregnancy. This time she has booked a private scan, in addition to the two scans she expects to get under the public system in hospital. “We chose to get a private scan because we want to find out the sex of this baby,” she explains. They wanted to know the sex on her first pregnancy but their experience was that in the public system it is rare to find out, as the scanning is not geared towards this service.
“This time around we felt it was worth spending the money to find out the sex. We want to know whether we have to prepare for a little girl or another boy.”
She found about three places in the Cork area offering private maternity scans and chose the Cork Women’s Clinic in Wilton.
“My husband and I were not specifically interested in the 3D/4D scanning or in the DVD you can get; some places only offered these. The clinic we chose offered an anomaly scan to assess the health and development of the baby as well as finding out the sex,” she adds.
A 34-year-old mother in Dublin, who is expecting her second child, was disappointed to be told she would not be getting her first scan until 15 weeks, when she signed up for the public, Domino, midwife-led scheme at the Rotunda.
“To me it was a little late. If you take the three-month threshold for telling family and friends, it is reassuring to have seen the heartbeat,” she explains, asking that her name not be used as she has yet to announce her pregnancy at work.
But there was no problem booking a private 2D scan at the Rotunda, for when she is 11 weeks, and for which they have to pay €100. Her husband would be interested in a 3D scan but for her the 2D version is sufficient.
“You know you have a living creature then and we are going to see the face soon enough!” she says. They did not know the sex last time, and do not want to know this time either.
A Dublin-based garda who is expecting her first baby switched from one public hospital to another so she could get an earlier scan. When she registered with Holles Street, she was told she would not get her first scan until she was 21 weeks.
“I did not ask many questions but went to the Coombe and they scanned me at 13 weeks,” she says, requesting that her name not be used because of her job.
What she and her partner were looking for, as well as reassurance, was proof of her pregnancy. “You are at the stage where you’re not showing, you’re sick but there’s no baby to prove you’re pregnant.”
They don’t have the money to go to a private clinic, she says. “It would be hard to justify spending €200 on a scan when you could buy a cot or buggy.”