Professor Sean Daly:

There is a relatively small window for anomaly scanning. As people get bigger, scanning becomes more difficult. Between 18 and 22 weeks pregnant is the ideal time to scan. For example, in looking at the heart, as the ribs become more calcified it is more difficult to see the heart. There is a four or five week window when we need to try to ensure that women have anatomy ultrasounds. That is feasible, as long as resources are put in to training people and supporting the service. In the UK, every woman is entitled to two scans whether she is in the centre of London or the outback of Scotland. The service there does manage more or less to deliver on that commitment.