Pregnancy
Ultrasound scans in pregnancy: A trusted guide amid emerging MRI research
For many born during the UK’s most common birth dates, their arrival often carries a festive backstory.
Christmas holidays, time off work, and the boost to sperm quality in winter—December becomes a season of new beginnings.
Fast forward nine months, and January turns into a time of fresh starts, not just for the year ahead but for expectant parents embarking on the incredible journey of pregnancy.
It’s a journey filled with hope, wonder, and, naturally, questions. Among the most important tools guiding that journey are ultrasound scans.
They’re trusted. They’re accessible. And they remain at the heart of prenatal care, even as advancements in MRI research spark curiosity.
Why Ultrasound Matters
An ultrasound scan is more than just a glimpse inside the womb.
In the NHS, two routine scans are part of every pregnancy. The dating scan, offered at around 12 weeks, sets the timeline for your pregnancy.
It confirms your due date, checks for multiple pregnancies, and ensures everything is progressing as it should.
Then there’s the anomaly scan, at 20 weeks. This one is more detailed, looking at the baby’s organs, growth, and the position of the placenta.
It identifies any structural abnormalities, providing essential information to parents and clinicians alike.
But for many parents, these NHS scans aren’t enough. They’re waiting—sometimes weeks, sometimes months—to see their baby. They want reassurance sooner.
That’s where private viability scans come in.
The Comfort of Private Viability Scans
The first trimester is a time of joy, but also of uncertainty.
It’s those early weeks, from the moment of a positive test, where questions and worries arise.
Private viability scans, available from six weeks, offer peace of mind when it’s needed most.
They confirm a baby’s heartbeat, assess gestational age, and check for multiple pregnancies.
For parents who’ve experienced loss or undergone fertility treatments, this early reassurance can be transformative.
At London Pregnancy Clinic, these scans are more than just clinical assessments.
They’re moments. Moments where parents first see their baby and begin to imagine the life they’re creating.
Performed using state-of-the-art ultrasound technology, these scans provide not only precise results but also an emotional bridge until the NHS dating scan at 12 weeks.
MRI: A Window into Complex Cases
While ultrasound is the foundation of prenatal care, MRI—magnetic resonance imaging—has carved a vital role in specific cases.
Unlike ultrasound, which uses sound waves, MRI relies on magnetic fields and radio waves to create highly detailed, cross-sectional images of the fetus and maternal anatomy.
It’s not for every pregnancy, but in complex or high-risk cases, it’s a game-changer.
Recent innovations in MRI have expanded its capabilities, allowing researchers and clinicians to see pregnancy in unprecedented detail.
MRI has proven a valuable tool for diagnosing rare fetal conditions like brain abnormalities and oesophageal atresia, especially when ultrasound results are unclear.
It is also shedding light on how pregnancy affects maternal health.
Groundbreaking studies have shown that MRI can map changes in the mother’s brain during pregnancy, offering insights into risks such as postnatal depression or conditions like migraines that may improve during gestation.
However, MRI is not a replacement for ultrasound. It is expensive, time-intensive, and less widely available, making it a complementary tool rather than a routine one.
For high-risk pregnancies or cases requiring detailed follow-up, MRI may add a level of precision that ultrasound cannot achieve alone.
The Revolution in Ultrasound Technology
Ultrasound isn’t just holding its ground—it’s leaping forward. It remains the gold standard for monitoring pregnancy because it is safe, affordable, and accessible.
And now, it’s better than ever. The GE Voluson Expert 22, for instance, represents a new era of ultrasound technology.
This isn’t just a machine. It’s a marvel.
Designed for early detection, it excels in first-trimester assessments, fetal cardiac imaging, and complex anatomy evaluations.
The Voluson Expert 22 uses advanced AI to automate key measurements. Tools like SonoLyst, SonoPelvicFloor, and SonoBiometry enhance accuracy, speed, and consistency.
For parents, this means earlier detection of potential concerns. For clinicians, it means greater confidence in every scan.
With cutting-edge 3D and 4D capabilities, this machine offers lifelike views of a baby in the womb. It’s technology that doesn’t just inform—it connects.
It allows to combine the precision of science with the compassion of care, ensuring every parent feels supported and informed.
Looking Ahead
January is a time for beginnings. For expectant parents, it’s the start of an incredible journey.
While MRI advances the science of pregnancy care, ultrasound remains the heartbeat of it all. It’s accessible, reliable, and constantly evolving.
From early viability scans to the anomaly scan at 20 weeks, these moments shape the experience of parenthood.
A £50m maternity consortium will bring together UK clinicians, researchers and communities to tackle the most critical gaps in maternal care.
Funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research has established the NIHR Inequalities Challenge: Maternity Disparities Consortium under the leadership of the University of Birmingham and Newcastle University.
Higher education bodies, NHS organisations, community groups and voluntary organisations from across the UK will work together through the programme.
The NIHR has committed £50m over five years to support research led by clinicians, researchers and communities across the consortium.
Professor Joht Singh Chandan, consortium co-lead for research at the University of Birmingham, said: “National attention on maternity safety and equity has never been greater, but ambition must now be matched by evidence and implementation.
“Through this consortium, we will work across the UK to understand what works, for whom and in what contexts, and to ensure that research leads to practical changes in care for the women, babies and families who need them most.”
The launch comes at a pivotal moment for UK maternity care, with growing national attention on improving safety, equity and women’s experiences of care.
The government’s renewed Women’s Health Strategy highlights the need to improve care before and between pregnancies for underserved communities.
Against that backdrop, the consortium will generate the evidence, interventions and research capacity needed to help turn national ambition into practical improvements for women, babies and families.
University of Birmingham is leading work to improve maternity care pathways across the antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal periods.
Antenatal care covers pregnancy before labour, while intrapartum care refers to care during labour and birth.
The consortium will examine how women and families can be better supported before pregnancy and between pregnancies.
This includes improving access to advice and care that can help people prepare for pregnancy, manage existing health conditions and reduce risks before they build up.
Other research will focus on improving care during pregnancy, birth and the early weeks after birth.
This will include work on major causes of poor maternal health, such as high blood pressure, diabetes in pregnancy, obesity, perinatal mental health and complications during recovery after birth.
Professor Judith Rankin OBE, consortium co-lead for research and capacity development at Newcastle University, said: “This funding represents a critical opportunity to make the step change we need to improve outcomes for women and their babies.
“Alongside the research, the Consortium will be investing in tomorrow’s research leaders today to ensure we have the capacity to deliver on improving pregnancy outcomes, access to, and experience of, care.”
The University of Liverpool has secured £1.8m to test a device for postpartum bleeding and launch a new women’s health studio.
The PPH Butterfly is designed to help control postpartum haemorrhage, which is severe bleeding after childbirth and a leading cause of maternal death worldwide.
The funding will support research into how the device can be used in clinical practice and generate evidence to inform its wider adoption.
The university has launched the Women’s Health Innovation Studio, known as the WIN Studio, alongside the project.
The £1.8m initiative is predominantly funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, which is providing £1.5m, with additional support from the university.
The PPH Butterfly project will involve a multi-centre clinical trial across the UK and a global feasibility study looking at how practical it would be to use the device in different healthcare settings.
The WIN Studio is led by Andrew Weeks, professor of international maternal health care at the University of Liverpool and a senior investigator at the National Institute for Health and Care Research, and Dr Teesta Dey, a tenure track fellow in the department of women’s and children’s health.
Dr Dey will also lead the PPH Butterfly project.
Its work will cover conditions linked to female biology, including endometriosis, menopause and pregnancy-related complications.
It will also support technologies for diseases that affect women differently or disproportionately, even when they are not usually classed as gender-specific conditions.
Dr Dey said: “Women’s health has often been marginalised within healthcare systems and innovation markets, resulting in treatments, devices and care models that fail to adequately account for women’s specific needs. WIN Studio seeks to change this status quo and reconfigure how health technologies are conceived and delivered.
“The funding from NIHR for this £1.8m project is precisely the kind of innovation the WIN Studio exists to foster: clinically urgent, women-centred, and with the potential to save lives at scale.”
The studio recently hosted an event at Liverpool Women’s University Hospital as part of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority’s Innovation Investment Fortnight.
Seven innovations are currently undergoing clinical testing through the studio, with three developed internally.
The studio will work closely with NHS University Hospitals Liverpool Group and provide clinical, regulatory and commercial support to people developing women’s health technologies.
It will also involve patients and members of the public in shaping research priorities and product development.
Its wider programme includes collaborations involving clinicians, engineers, economists, academics and policymakers.
The project team says the PPH Butterfly is a simple, low-cost device designed to control severe bleeding quickly and with minimal training.
According to the team, postpartum haemorrhage causes around 70,000 deaths globally each year, equal to about one death every seven minutes.
The device previously received £1.1m in funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
The latest £1.5m grant will support a randomised UK trial, in which participants are allocated to different treatment groups by chance, and a global feasibility assessment.
Weeks said: “In an area where women face deep health inequalities, WIN Studio has a vital role to play. By working in partnership with the NHS, local government and communities, we can ensure that research leads to real-world impact.
“Liverpool has a highly integrated ecosystem of academic, clinical and commercial expertise. By bringing these together under a single platform, the WIN Studio aims to act as a national exemplar for equitable health innovation. Transforming the way medical technologies are developed is essential to addressing gender disparities in healthcare outcomes.”
Another product supported by the university, the LifeStart Trolley, has already reached commercialisation.
The small mobile resuscitation trolley allows newborn care to be carried out at the bedside while the baby’s umbilical cord remains intact, enabling delayed cord clamping.
Delayed cord clamping means waiting before cutting the cord so blood can continue flowing from the placenta to the baby after birth.
Clinical trials conducted around 10 years ago found that life-saving care could be provided successfully at the bedside using the trolley.
It was later commercialised by Inspiration Healthcare and is now used in more than 70 UK maternity units and in 36 countries, including Norway, Italy and the US.
Type 2 diabetes diagnoses are rising twice as fast in women under 40 as in women over 40, new data shows.
Type 2 diabetes is a serious condition and can lead to complications such as heart attacks and strokes. When it develops in younger people, it can be more aggressive and have more severe and acute effects.
Diagnoses in women under 40 rose by 47 per cent between 2017/18 and 2023/24. By comparison, diagnoses rose by 22 per cent in women aged 40 to 79.
During the same period, type 2 diabetes diagnoses in men under 40 increased by 34 per cent.
Diabetes UK said it is concerned about the follow-up care offered to women who have had gestational diabetes, also known as GDM, which increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes after pregnancy.
Gestational diabetes is high blood sugar that develops during pregnancy and usually goes away after birth, but it raises the risk of type 2 diabetes later.
Colette Marshall, chief executive at Diabetes UK, said: “These figures should be a wake-up call. Type 2 diabetes is rising twice as fast in younger women compared to older women, and a crucial opportunity for prevention is being missed. Every diagnosis is life-changing, but when it develops in younger people, type 2 diabetes is even more aggressive.
“Pregnancy shouldn’t be a pathway to ill health. Yet despite facing a much higher risk of type 2 diabetes, too many women with GDM receive little or no follow-up care after pregnancy.
“As the Government turns its Strategy into action, support for women who have had gestational diabetes must not be overlooked.”
Last year, the NHS published the first national GDM audit for England in 2024/25, which revealed inconsistencies in follow-up care.
Only 57 per cent of women with GDM received an annual HbA1c test, which should be offered to every woman with GDM.
An HbA1c test measures average blood sugar levels over the previous two to three months.
Only 4.5 per cent of women had received support through the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme.
The report also found that 11 per cent of women developed prediabetes within five years of having GDM, while 15 per cent developed type 2 diabetes within 10 years.
Prediabetes means blood sugar levels are higher than normal and a person has a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
A recent survey funded by Diabetes UK also found that more than a third of women with GDM felt abandoned by healthcare services after giving birth.
If you live in England and have had gestational diabetes, you can self-refer to the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, which supports people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. If you live in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales, you can speak to your GP about support.
Diabetes UK has written to women’s health minister Baroness Merron calling for urgent improvements to postnatal support for those diagnosed with GDM during pregnancy.
GDM affects between 10 and 20 per cent of pregnant women, but Diabetes UK said cases have long been underreported and UK-wide data on the condition has not been readily available.
The charity said poor follow-up care for women who have had GDM may be contributing to rising rates of type 2 diabetes in younger women.
It is calling for consistent postnatal follow-ups for women after GDM, more referrals to the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, greater accountability for improvements in postnatal care, and action on inequalities affecting women from deprived and minority ethnic communities.
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