Kizzi Woodman, a call handler from London, has warned prospective parents about the danger of high-street baby scan clinics following her heartbreaking experience
Kizzi Woodman has shared her heartbreak(Image: Kizzi Woodman / SWNS)
A woman lost her baby son after THREE private ultrasounds said her unborn child was fine.
Kizzi Woodman was told by staff at the high street companies her son was healthy after conceiving for the first time. However, staff at the 12-week NHS scan told Kizzi, a call handler from London, her baby had severe health problems.
And, at a scan one week later, Kizzi was told her child had died due to one of the challenges, which had led to his organs developing outside of his body. She then had to take medication to miscarry the foetus, an experience she described as traumatic. The 27-year-old woman said today: “It was the worst week of my life.”
The tragedy comes amid concerns in the medical industry about private ultrasounds. The Society of Radiographers (SoR) warned this month pregnant women are receiving dangerous misdiagnoses due to dodgy clinics.
READ MORE: Patients stuck on NHS waiting lists turn to radiologist-founded website for scansREAD MORE: Dodgy baby scans warning after pregnant woman wrongly told her child was ‘dead’
Kizzi had three private scans which wrongly showed her pregnancy was completely normal(Image: Kizzi Woodman / SWNS)
Kizzi, who has echoed these worries, believes everyone carrying out private baby scans should have to be a trained sonographer, which is not currently the law in the UK. The call handler, who experienced the ordeal in July, said: “They (NHS sonographers) instantly told me there was a problem. They told me that my baby’s organs were developing outside of their body.”
It jarred hugely from the information the young woman was told at the private practices, and left Kizzi concerned. She said: “I was absolutely shocked, because I’d had the previous scans, and it was the first time that I genuinely didn’t feel anxious because the private scans had said everything was fine, and I had confidence in that. So when I heard the news I just couldn’t believe it.”
And Kizzi was later told the baby died, again after an appointment at an NHS hospital in the capital. Following recent stories like Kizzi’s, the Society of Radiographers (SoR) is calling for sonographer to become a protected job title, in the same way that dietician and radiographer is.
The call handler recalled the ‘worst week of her life'(Image: Kizzi Woodman / SWNS)
Kizzi, from London, is now pregnant again(Image: Kizzi Woodman / SWNS)
Kizzi said she doesn’t want to paint private scans in a “bad light”, as she said they can be really helpful if people want to check whether the baby has a heartbeat, or how far along they are.
However, she urged people to do their research before booking in for a private baby scan, and to take things with a “pinch of salt”, if staff aren’t trained sonographers.
“I know that they do help some people, and they can be helpful, but I think people need to definitely do their research on the place that they’re going to before they get the scan.”
Kizzi, who lives with partner Wayne, 24 is now pregnant again and is currently 11 weeks along. She has decided to do in depth research before deciding whether to do a private scan again.
“In my first pregnancy, I was absolutely clueless but now I’m pregnant again now, so I’m doing like, my proper research if I was to ever go to a private scan again.