Access to Private ultrasound is an indulgence that we simply could not access a few years ago.

Now we can, and it’s available at a price that most of us can afford. We also include growth and well-being checks as a part of our 3D/4D packages which can be quite interesting if you want to have an idea of how much your baby weighs. These precious opportunities present themselves only a few times in our lives, so we always advise making the most of them.

At Early Life Ultrasound Centre, we pride ourselves on customer satisfaction and do all we can to make your visit here special. Our aim is that you leave with a wonderful warm and a closer relationship with your developing baby.

We are a small local independent practice and we won’t give you the big sell, but we will make sure that you get the very best from your bonding scan or any scan appointment.

Early Life Ultrasound Centre is run by local Healthcare professionals and include 1 midwife, 2 nurses, 2 Sonographers and a Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist, who between us can offer a range of skills to the women and families of Gloucestershire.

We are also all parents and grandparents so we understand what a special, sometimes worrying time starting a family can be.

We are much less commercial than most private ultrasound facilities, but we do have all of the accessories on offer should you wish to indulge. There is a fabulous range of accessories available in stock such as hearts beats bears and gender reveal balloons or canons that you can purchase if you wish.

If you are attending for an early or well-being scan these types of scan are more about information and we would hope that you are able to obtain the information that you require and leave the clinic having all of your questions answered as well as any images that you would like.

Our Sonographers are medically trained in ultrasound practice and protocol, but they also undergo counselling training and have an excellent understanding the trials and tribulations of this, perhaps biggest adventure if your life.

 

Adapting to our new surroundings

Since the start of the COVID-19 virus pandemic it has been essential that we adapt to keep both staff and clients as safe as we possibly can. We have implemented several important measures so that we can take care of each other, but we do need your help to do this.

Early Life Ultrasound Centre have chosen to adapt in a way so that we can keep as close to normality as possible whilst being safe at the same time.

We ask that people do not attend for a period of 14 days if:

You have experienced a loss of taste or smell; you feel unwell OR You have been in contact with someone who feels unwell.

During your visit

We have spaced our appointment times even wider and we are asking that everyone attends on time, so that we can ensure that people are not sharing the space and, so that we can clean down before each attendance. This means that you have the whole place to yourself! Our appointment are spaced 40 minutes apart, but this doesn’t mean that this is your appointment length, but we are still able to offer more time than most clinics of this type in the country as well as access to one of the best imaging systems, very experienced wonderful staff and a lovely environment with a great atmosphere.

What if I arrive early?

If you arrive early please call to see if the clinic is clear and if not, please wait in your car until the time of your appointment.

How are we minimising COVID Transmission?

We have looked at possible areas of transmission very closely and implemented measures to minimise each area of transmission within our risk assessments.

The main areas of transmission are.

· Respiratory droplets – breathing, sneezing, or coughing droplets out into the air

· Contact – touching something that has the virus on it such as contaminated surfaces

 

To avoid coming in to contact with contaminated surfaces we ask that you leave any belongings at home. A box will be provided on entry should you be carrying anything on your person. After items are placed into the box or hung up on the coat stand, we will ask you to sanitise your hands and you will be given a mask each to wear, unless you have your own. You can carry the box as we will ensure that this has been sanitised before you add your belongings and afterwards.

Why can’t I carry my stuff?

Imagine that everything you touch is a possible source of transmission. If you have sanitised your hand and then pick up things from outside of the clinic then the hand sanitising that you have just done is no longer sanitary and it defeats the point of sanitising your hands.

Infection control in the Scan room

The scan room is quite large so we can also enable social distancing guidelines. You can choose to sit either 3 metres away or 2 metres away from staff in the scan room, but we will leave that up to you… There is a large projector screen on the wall in the scan room as well as another screen placed in mum-to-be's line of sight so this shouldn’t affect your views.

We have special UV air sanitisers in both the waiting area and scan room as well as the required ventilation and screens. The screen and UV air sanitisers are to minimise respiratory droplets and to clean the air in the room. We also ensure that all doors and windows are open for better ventilation.

All Staff will be in full PPE and we have installed screening for your safety and the safety of our staff.

So… With all of us wearing masks, air sanitisation, frequent disinfection of everything and ourselves, good ventilation, minimal contact, social distancing and additional screens we figure we have this thing under control as much as possible.

Payments

Before you attend for your appointment, we will request payment via our online system to minimise any contact during your visit.

 

Who can attend with me?

We are only able to see one couple (mum-to-be and partner) and a MAXIMUM of 2 children from the SAME HOUSEHOLD at any one time, but we would encourage you to leave your children home if you can.

During your appointment, you will be the ONLY clients in the building. We ask that any children are kept close. We have transparent screens in place for everyone to sit behind. This means that you CAN bring your partner.

We can’t go completely back to normal as we have to respect our staff requests and the level of risk that we are all willing to take. We realise that it may seem that things are back to normal, but we can’t stop being careful just yet….

 

Finally,

Apart from these measures we will do everything as normal and continue to do our absolute best to give you a great service.

We very much hope that you enjoy your visit to Early Life Ultrasound Centre and feel rest assured that we will take every precaution to maintain your safety during your visit.