During childbirth, the five senses play a significant role in the overall experience. Your subconscious thoughts and feelings about labour effect which hormones you pump out during the process. Your subconscious’  primary job is to keep you and your baby safe. If it senses any “danger” (this may be as subtle as getting into a cold car on the journey to the hospital) then its job is to stop baby being born (keeping it safe.) You can see how this can lead labour to stop and start, stall or halt completely. The trick is to help our bodies feel safe even if we may be a little (or a lot ..read more

 How much does the Harmony test cost in London? The cost of the Harmony test was £500, however Harmony is no longer available in the UK. VeriSeq NIPT replaced Harmony NIPT. Which week is best for the Harmony test? The Harmony test NIPT was available from 10 weeks of pregnancy, the test failure was relatively high at 10 weeks with The Birth Company recommending 11 weeks as the optimal time to have your NIPT to reduce the likelihood of test failure. If the NIPT fails a free of charge rescan and repeat blood test is offered. VeriSeq NIPT replaced Harmony NIPT in September 2023. VeriSeq demon ..read more

The Harmony Test NIPT was the first NIPT available privately in the UK. This test was processed by The Doctors Laboratory (TDL UK). Since September 2023 TDL are no longer offering the Harmony NIPT. They have replaced the Harmony NIPT with Veriseq v2 by Illumnia NIPT. This newer NIPT technology promises faster turnaround times, often as quickly as 2-4 days and lower test failure rates. We welcome this new technology, improving your pregnancy journey. The TDL VeriSeq v2 by Illumina test (NIPT) is currently the most advanced non-invasive pregnancy screening available for parents who would like t ..read more

Pregnancy is a long journey that is different for everyone, but here is a quick pregnancy week by week guide on how it could affect you. Week 1-2: Since pregnancies are dated from the start of your last period, you aren’t pregnant for the first couple of weeks. Week 3: The fertilised egg makes its way along the fallopian tube and implants in your womb, which can cause some spotting. Week 4: Pregnancy hormones could already be causing symptoms such as breast tenderness and nausea, but you might confuse these with your usual pre-menstrual symptoms. Week 5: You can take a pregnancy test as soon ..read more

Good nutrition is essential for both you and your baby during pregnancy. You need to eat well to ensure that you stay healthy and have plenty of energy. Your baby also needs lots of nutrients in order to keep growing and developing, as you will see if you check our pregnancy week by week guides. Why is Iron Important During Pregnancy? Iron is one of the most important nutrients for pregnant women. We all need iron because it plays an essential role in the red blood cells that carry oxygen around our bodies. Every red blood cell contains iron and the average adult has approximately 25 trilli ..read more

Non-invasive prenatal testing or NIPT is a new screening test that can be performed during pregnancy to check for certain chromosomal or genetic abnormalities. It’s important to understand how these tests are performed and what they can tell you about your baby so that you can make informed choices about your care. Here are the key things that you should know about non-invasive prenatal testing. How is the Test Performed? Non-invasive prenatal testing is a special type of blood test. It is performed the same way as any other blood test. You may already have had a blood test at your antenatal ..read more

Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing or NIPT is a blood test that can screen for chromosomal abnormalities during pregnancy. Several different forms of NIPT are available, such as the Harmony test and Panorama test, all of which work in the same way. How are we able to check for genetic problems affecting your baby by taking a sample of your blood? Collecting the Sample NIPT such as the Harmony test is performed in the same way as any other blood test. By the time you are able to have the Harmony test at 10 weeks, you may already have had a blood test as part of your antenatal care. We will collec ..read more

If your Midwife or Obstetrician has referred you for a Cervical Scan, then you might have some questions about what this test involves and why it’s needed. Keep reading to find out why the Cervical Length Scan is so important. What is a Cervical Scan in Pregnancy? The Cervical Scan is an ultrasound to look at the cervix during pregnancy. In order to get a close look at your cervix, we will need to perform a trans-vaginal scan. We will check the appearance of the cervix and measure its length. If the cervix is shorter than expected for the length of your pregnancy, then you may have a weakene ..read more

If you’ve recently found out that you’re pregnant then you may be thinking about the best time to have your first pregnancy scan. Many women wait until the Nuchal Scan, but there are some good reasons to consider getting an earlier scan first. What is an Early Pregnancy Scan? Early scans are ultrasounds that are performed before the first routine scan offered by the NHS, which is the Nuchal Scan at around 12 weeks. Although you won’t be offered an early scan on the NHS, there are still some good reasons to arrange a private ultrasound early in your pregnancy. The best time to arrange your Ea ..read more

Women in the UK aren’t routinely offered scans after about 20 weeks through the NHS, but there are some important reasons why you may need to have a later ultrasound. It’s also a good idea to consider arranging a private Wellbeing Scan so that you can check in on your baby during the second half of your pregnancy. What is a Wellbeing Scan? Wellbeing Scans are ultrasounds that are performed after the routine mid-pregnancy Anomaly Scan. We can perform a Wellbeing Scan at any time between 24 weeks and the end of your pregnancy. You might just have a single scan during this period in order to ch ..read more