Cathy Warwick, RCM chief executive, has said that the parties, where people show off 3D and 4D scans, raise ethical issues.
In a Scrubbing Up column for the BBC News website, she wrote that the development is a ‘worrying trend towards the commercialisation of pregnancy’.
‘There is a worry that supposed diagnostic scans are now being used for entertainment. Across the country services for "fetus" parties are popping up,’ she wrote.
‘There are companies across the country that provide gifts for parties featuring images of the fetus from a fridge magnet for £3 to a teddy with 3D scan image for £15.
‘Some companies provide a champagne celebration scan package for £165 and a VIP scan package for £185. This is a far cry from the original purpose of ultrasound.’
It raises particular concern because many women now give birth later in life, when it is more likely there will be complications.
She continued: 'If a woman is celebrating much more overtly than she might normally do regarding a pregnancy at an early stage during the pregnancy and then, at a later stage, a serious problem emerges, a mother may need increased counselling after raising everyone's expectations of her pregnancy at a "fetus party", only to learn of complications later on.'
Cathy also questioned whether the parties could lead to some people believing that a fetus should be classed as having a life – and rights – of its own before birth.
UK law currently allows the mother-to-be to make decisions on behalf of her baby until born.
Cathy wrote: 'Using technology in this way seems to have the potential to upset this position and raises the (issue) of women being accused of doing wrong to their fetus, as happens in the USA.’
Cathy’s column can be read in full
here.
