If you are around six weeks pregnant and feeling more anxious than excited, a reassurance scan can give you an early, gentle look at your baby before your routine appointments begin. At UBM Scans in Menai NSW, this is an elective keepsake visit. It needs no referral and is not a medical assessment. It is a chance to see your baby on screen, not a clinical check. It also never replaces the diagnostic ultrasound your GP or specialist arranges. This guide explains the difference so you can choose with confidence.<\/p>\n
The early weeks of pregnancy can feel very long. Many parents have not yet had an appointment, nothing is visible from the outside, and the wait for a first formal scan can stretch on. A reassurance scan is designed for exactly this stretch of time. It is a short, unhurried ultrasound visit where you and your support person can look at your baby on screen and, for many families, take home a memory of those first days.<\/p>\n
A reassurance scan in early pregnancy at our Menai clinic is a keepsake service. That wording matters. We do not perform it to detect problems, and we do not interpret what appears on the screen as a medical finding. We don’t tell you whether your pregnancy is progressing as it should. Those judgements belong to your GP or specialist, who knows your history and can order the right diagnostic imaging.<\/p>\n
It is also worth being realistic about what early scanning can show. At about six weeks, a baby is very small, and what appears on screen depends on many things, including your baby’s position and your body. We can’t guarantee a particular image, or that a heartbeat will be seen or recorded on the day. If you would like to understand the timing better, our article on when you can see a baby’s heartbeat on ultrasound<\/a> walks through what to expect in the early weeks.<\/p>\n Because this is an elective keepsake service rather than a diagnostic one, you can book it yourself. You do not need a letter from your GP or specialist. That is the practical reason many parents choose it: it fits around your own timing and your own need for a little peace of mind, without having to wait for an appointment.<\/p>\n The flip side is just as important. No referral is needed precisely because the scan does not produce a diagnostic report. Nothing from the visit is sent to your doctor as a clinical result, and it should never be treated as one. If you have a referral for an obstetric ultrasound, that scan still needs to go ahead as your clinician has advised, whether or not you have had a keepsake visit first.<\/p>\n Keepsake scans are privately paid services. We don’t publish prices in articles because they can change, so please contact us for current pricing and to ask what a visit includes. For a fuller walkthrough of the service itself, see our comprehensive guide to reassurance scans<\/a>.<\/p>\n A reassurance scan is a moment to meet your baby, never a medical opinion.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The two services can look similar from the outside, because both use ultrasound and both involve a sonographer and a screen. What differs is the purpose, the pathway and who is responsible for the outcome.<\/p>\n A keepsake reassurance scan is about the experience: a first look, a memory, and a calmer few weeks while you wait for your routine care. A referred obstetric ultrasound is a diagnostic scan ordered because your GP or specialist wants specific clinical information. The questions it answers are theirs to ask, and the answers are theirs to explain.<\/p>\n Our keepsake scans need no referral. Every diagnostic scan we perform, including obstetric ultrasound, requires a valid referral from a GP or specialist. Diagnostic reports go back through the referring clinician relationship, so the person who knows your whole pregnancy is the one who talks you through the findings. Referred diagnostic scans may attract a Medicare rebate where current eligibility and item requirements apply, and your referring doctor or our team can help you understand what applies to you. We can’t promise a rebate or an out-of-pocket amount in advance.<\/p>\n Put simply, one is a memory and the other is medical care. They are not interchangeable, and having one never cancels the need for the other. Our guide to what can and can’t be seen in a 3D\/4D ultrasound<\/a> sets out the same honest expectations for the later keepsake scans.<\/p>\n Parents often search for a reassurance scan near me because they want somewhere close, calm and easy to reach. Our main clinic is at 10 Anzac Rd, Menai NSW 2234, which serves families across the Sutherland Shire and the wider Sydney area. We also have a second location at Macarthur Square in Campbelltown NSW, which currently runs on Saturdays by appointment. All of our scans are performed in clinic, and we do not offer mobile or home-visit scanning.<\/p>\n When you arrive, we want you to feel unhurried. You are welcome to bring a partner, a support person or a family member, and this is a space for every kind of family. The sonographer will explain what they are doing as they scan. Our sonographers have more than 15 years of medical-imaging experience, which means they are used to working gently with parents who are nervous.<\/p>\n The image you see will depend on your baby’s size and position, and we’ll talk you through what is visible and what is not. If the scan does not show what you were hoping for, we will not speculate about why. We will encourage you to speak with your GP or specialist about any concerns. Parents who want to prepare further may enjoy our general advice on how 2D, 3D and 4D ultrasound differ<\/a>, since these keepsake options come later in pregnancy.<\/p>\n If you would like to ask about timing, availability or what a visit includes, we would love to hear from you.<\/p>\n Call 0423 550 063<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Only you can answer that, and there is no wrong answer. For some parents, the weeks before a first formal appointment are quietly stressful, and seeing their baby on screen brings real comfort. For others, waiting is perfectly fine, and a later keepsake scan is the experience they are looking forward to.<\/p>\n It may suit you if you want an early keepsake moment, if you are feeling anxious and would like to share the milestone with someone, or if you have had a hard road to this pregnancy and want to mark each step. It may not be what you need if you are experiencing symptoms that worry you. In that case, the right step is to contact your GP, or to attend an emergency department if you have severe or sudden pain or heavy bleeding. A keepsake scan is not a substitute for medical advice and is not the right place to take urgent symptoms.<\/p>\n It also helps to separate the early scan from later ones. A reassurance scan is about the first weeks. Parents who are curious about sex or gender are usually better served by a gender reveal scan later in pregnancy, although we can’t promise the sex will be visible on the day. If you would like to find out earlier, the SneakPeek Early Gender DNA Test<\/a> is a separate keepsake service we offer, and it is not a scan.<\/p>\n No. A reassurance scan is an elective keepsake service, so you can book directly. Diagnostic scans, including referred obstetric ultrasound, do require a valid GP or specialist referral.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n No. A reassurance scan in early pregnancy is non-diagnostic and does not assess your pregnancy or produce a clinical report. The scan your doctor orders is a diagnostic ultrasound, and your clinician explains the results.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n We offer reassurance scans from approximately 6 weeks. What can be seen varies from person to person, and we can’t promise any particular image or heartbeat on the day.<\/p>\n<\/details>\nWhy a reassurance scan needs no referral<\/h2>\n
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How a keepsake visit differs from a referred obstetric ultrasound<\/h2>\n
Purpose<\/h3>\n
Referral and reporting<\/h3>\n
What each one can and can’t do<\/h3>\n
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Thinking about a reassurance scan near me: what the visit is like in Menai NSW<\/h2>\n
Book a calm first look<\/h2>\n
Is an early reassurance scan worth it?<\/h2>\n
Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n
Do I need a referral for a reassurance scan?<\/summary>\n
Is a reassurance scan in early pregnancy the same as the scan my doctor orders?<\/summary>\n
How early can I have a reassurance scan?<\/summary>\n