Our first child is on the way; very lucky and very happy. We go for our 20 week scan. So excited. We see the little peanut on the screen, hi-fiving and we are stoked. Can’t wait to share this with the grand-parents and aunts/uncles. Only we go to ask how we pay for a photo. $50 for a CD. $50!! Are you serious? A blank CD costs, what like 50c. And then it takes 2 weeks to mail it. Unfortunately we can’t afford a $50 CD, from which we want ONE photo as a memento of this special time.
Get with the times, buy a few black and white printers and charge $5, hell even $10 a photo!
Thanks baby hospital, you just robbed us (and every other expecting couple who don’t have money to burn) of that first memory. —Experience-slightly-soured
This article appears in Dec 12-18, 2013.
Because new parents are easy targets and think everybody wants to see the pictures. Further do you have any idea how much that piece of equipment costs? It’s not a cheap camera.
That sucks, OB.
I’d’ve taken my smart phone out and taken a pic of the screen if you have one.
Congrats on your impending arrival!
PS Tim: if this is the baby hospital and not the 3-d place (which is just creepy), they used to print pictures for free, then stopped giving out pics altogether.
Maybe this is a new way for them to fundraise?
Probably because a lot of entitled parents asked for too many copies, too many CDs and it was taking resources away from real things… like running a hospital.
Oh it takes HOW long to print one frigging picture, Bastard Fish?
It’s a cash grab.
I actually commend you for not buying them. They charge that much because most people don’t want to put a price tag on something like that, they’ll basically pay anything. Therefore, they charge out the ass because nine people who buy them makes up for the one who can’t.
Seems like you have your priorities straight by not spending money you don’t have with a baby on the way. Congrats on the baby! Good luck 🙂
They have to pay the TH staff somehow.
If you can’t afford $50 for pictures…what the hell r u going to do when the baby arrives? Having and raising children properly takes cash…..and lots of it.
Which is why they’re not spending $50 on PICTURES, idiot.
Perhaps, they’re saving their cash for diapets, formula, the kid’s education…?
no one ‘robbed’ you of anything.
you just want something you can’t afford. is it milk? is it air? is it housing? a warm bed….a crib….diapers….food….clothing?
christ. its a picture. here I go again with the term ‘luxury item’. not a god given right. and guess what, that baby doesn’t give a suck if he had his picture taken or not. it does nothing for his comfort, his wellbeing or his future.
if it’s that important to you, shell out the money and shut up.
most of them kinda look like demons in the pictures anyway
Molly, even you have to agree that $50 for a picture cd is a rip off.
comparing prices it looks like a bloody bargain (from a private company in our nations capital)
Basic Package $125.00
10 minute session of entire baby in 3d, 1 picture and Gender determination, a CD of pictures can be added for $15
Deluxe Package $175.00
The original package that started it all in Ottawa’s first and original 3D ultrasound clinic. You get 30 minutes of viewing your baby, listening to baby’s heartbeat, a CD of digital pictures, 2 printed photos, plus FREE optional Gender Determination.
Twice is Nice! $229.00
Two 20 minute sessions! One appointment before 25 weeks, and another after 25 weeks to view the growth of your baby including one CD of images from both sessions. 2 printed photos 4X6 (1 per session) Includes FREE optional Gender Determination.
Ultimate Package $275.00
Two 30 minute sessions! One appointment before 25 weeks, and another after 25 weeks weeks to view the growth of your baby including one CD of images per session and 4 printed photos 4X6 (2 per session). Includes FREE optional Gender Determination.
Military Special:
If you or your partner are in the Military, please call us for details about our special offer. We support our troops!*This special cannot be combined with any other offer*
Keepsake Bear with baby’s heart beat recorded and placed inside $25.00
DVD of baby’s movement can be added to any package for $25.00
Purchase a Gift Certificate
Gift Certificates available in store and online. Click here.
GDM, I was about to say the same thing, and let’s not forget about school pictures
the thing is, you are not just paying for a CD, the ultrasound machine can cost up to 200K (if it’s not a cheapie home machine which are only 10K) plus technician training costs. the company probably has more than one machine because you couldn’t run a business with only one machine going at a time with one pregnant woman using it with the attendant staff costs, reception, tech, bookkeepers and whatever. and down time, the time it is not making any money while one pregnant woman is hoisting herself off the bed and another one is waiting to get onto it. change of paper/sheeting etc etc. and all that bloody KY and the tissues used to wipe it off. messy! no one jumps off that bed with half a tube of KY still on their belly. it takes time to clean up. so if you can only squeeze in 2 women an hour per machine, its going to take some money. I posted prices for a private company. that $50 price is probably a hospital. she didn’t mention paying 100-200 for the ultrasound itself.
hmph, pictures and extortion. I remember when my first born was 1 year old I saw an ad from a reputable big store offering 8×10 portraits for 99c. so off we went to get his picture done. the fellow took several pictures and I went back 2 weeks later to chose the one I liked the best, but when I said I only wanted the 99c deal, and not a 29.99 package, he took all the prints and held them over the garbage can. then he offered to give them all to me if he could come over that night. but that’s how they get ya, can you stand to see ‘your baby’ hit the garbage can? I took my 99c picture and gave him a good view of my ass walking away.
You’re throwing your $$$ away by having a kid so what’s another $50, OB? Chances are you probably spent that much at the bar the night you got knocked up any way.
But, Molly, OB mentioned that it’s ‘the baby hospital,’ which means it’s an ultrasound funded by MSI.
I’m not saying pictures should be given, but what I am saying is, a public hospital charging 50 bucks for a CD of pictures is a bit inflated.
If it’s THAT expensive to provide pictures, then just stop doing it altogether.
But it isn’t that expensive, and it’s, no doubt, a cash grab.
The place you’re talking about is a private clinic that can charge whatever they want. But note the first package adds on a CD of pics for only $15? Why’s the hospital charging $50, if the private, for-profit clinic is charging $15?
the private place can ‘add on’ 15 for a CD because you have already paid them 125$
how much did Op pay the hospital for the ultrasound? nada. it’s part of prenatal care covered by our provincial health plan.
so it makes one wonder why pay extra to go to a private clinic? for service. in the hospital you’ll sit in a plastic chair in a dreary waiting room for your number to be called then end up in a clinical room. in a private ‘pay’ clinic the waiting room will be plush, you will be smiled at and treated ‘like a customer’ and escorted to a spa like cocoon. probably with teddy bears scattered around.
Jesus, has it come to bitching about this? Not being provided with cheap prints of an ultrasound? How ever did my parents survive the emotional distress of not having pictures of their three fetuses? Fuck, most normal people are satisfied with seeing the kid for the first time when it pops out.
Your first mistake was to have a child.
Molly: we pay enough in taxes for that msi-funded ultrasound. Healthcare is anything but ‘free.’
You’d probably pay just as much if it wasn’t covered by msi.
It actually makes it kinda worse that the public system is inflating fees, if you yhink about it.
I doubt that any taxpayer funded health care system turns a profit or comes even close to breaking even.
as Canadians, we have had public health care system in place for so long there are few who remember the days of pay direct. my first was born soon after it went Canada wide. it’s not free any more than our roads are free. or the army or coast guard. some provinces have a user pay fee for their health care systems, but that doesn’t begin to cover the cost of the system. in BC it’s about $50 a person per month. here in nova scotia, there is no monthly fee. instead, we pay higher yearly taxes. it’s considerable more than the $600.00 one pays in BC, but that higher amount is due to more than just medical system.
I don’t think our portion of personal taxes covers the cost of the health system.