By Joanna Frketich
The Hamilton Spectator
(Jan 29, 2007)
Pregnant women can soon add 3-D ultrasound pictures
of their unborn babies to their shopping lists at Ancaster
Meadowlands.
Hamilton's first entertainment ultrasound clinic opens
March 1 to give families a live show of their fetuses
complete with photo packages and a keepsake DVD. The
controversial private clinic called Fetal Expressions
is opposed by doctors, medical associations and even
Health Canada.
But the two ultrasound sonographers running it say
families want access to the latest technology to have
a look and a chance to bond with their babies before
they're born. "The whole family gets together to see
the baby for the first time," said owner Gary Janes. "This
is what we think has been excluded from medical ultrasounds.
It basically came down to the number of patients asking
us for this."
Moms will lounge on leather recliners and families
can relax on a comfortable couch while the ultrasound
is played live on a large LCD monitor on the wall.
If families buy the deluxe $189 package, siblings
will be able to make their own memento of the event,
picking their favourite pictures to go on a CD. A no-frills
$99 package will also be available. The clinic is in
stark contrast to the city's only other 3-D ultrasound
at McMaster University Medical Centre. It is used mostly
to diagnose birth defects. Women can't request or pay
to use it. As a result, private clinics such as Fetal
Expressions are opening across the country. Until now,
the closest were in Oakville, Cambridge and Mississauga.
"It has proliferated greatly in the last year," said
Dr. Shia Salem, vice-president of the Ontario Association
of Radiologists. "Every month, there's another one."
