UK’s unregulated pregnancy scan clinics putting lives in danger, say experts

‘At the moment anybody can go and buy an ultrasound machine and set up a practice without any qualifications whatsoever,’ the SoR said. Photograph: Nic Cleave/Alamy

High street clinics offering pregnancy scans could be putting unborn babies and their mothers in danger through a lack of properly trained staff, UK experts have warned.

According to the Society for Radiographers (SoR), high street clinics have seen a huge growth in numbers. However, hospital specialists say they have seen cases of missed health problems, misdiagnosed conditions, and situations in which women were erroneously told their babies were malformed or had died.