Or is this antenatal care not good enough?

[murkoff]

First baby, high rusk pregnancy. 34 weeks.

I’ve had a telephone consultation with midwife at about 7 weeks.

Then 12 week scan, then 20 week scan. Bloods done at 28 weeks. Then 32 week scan.

Surely I should be regularly seeing a midwife and be having some sort of consultation about giving birth? I’m starting to get very stressed and anxious.

Tbh they are overstretched and have to prioritise.

I know you say you are 41 but on face of it they will presumably be prioritising others who are much higher risk than you. It’s also standard not to have your own midwife, just a team.

And I think it’s standard that they don’t discuss birth options until 36 weeks as lots of things. might have changed before them. That’s the appropriate time to discuss the injury concern (eg is a c section appropriate)

You can thank the underfunding of the NHS for years for all this mess!

A colleague is high risk (but much younger) and having lots of extra monitoring - 4 appointments in a week - so if they thought there was something wrong they would prioritise I’m sure.

[quote RWK29]@zaffa That was my main concern. I was told my case wasn’t quite “juicy enough” to see a consultant straight away (I have a high BMI) but I would be referred to the consultant should anything flag up at my midwife appointments. All seems fair enough, except I wasn’t getting midwife appointments!
My bloods/urine/BP were taken after 12 week scan as booking had been over the phone. Had a second blood sample taken at 22 weeks by a nurse as I’m Rh- and they needed a second sample on file. Nothing else checked that day. Glucose Tolerance Test meant to be at 25 weeks - cancelled due to covid. Urine and BP done at 28 weeks. Then urine/BP/bloods done at 35.5 weeks. Next appointment at 39 weeks.

Bloods at 35.5 weeks came back that I was anaemic - hadn’t been checked in nearly 2 months so no idea how long I had been anaemic for. Midwife simply left a message on my answer machine saying “you’re a bit anaemic so pick up some iron supplements if you can. If not I’ll have a prescription ready for your next appointment” 🙄 fine, but my next appointment is 3.5 weeks after that blood result.[/quote]
Gosh that's so awful! I had no idea it was so bad / I'm sorry you're having such a rubbish time with the care. Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy - do take some supplements ASAP as I was anemic and thankfully took lots of supplements as I had an emergency section and they said if my iron had been that low it would have been a problem x

You need to contact the matron in charge of antenatal clinics and community midwifery, and also PALS at the hospital you are booked to have your baby. Ask to see the antenatal schedule of care and explain you have not yet seen a midwife since booking and don’t know who to contact for advice or in an emergency.

Hope you get an answer soon OP. This does sound like inadequate appointments, you should at least know which team you are with.

@zaffa Thank you! It has been quite frustrating but fingers crossed all has been fine so far 🤞🏼 I went straight out and got some iron supplements and then managed to get a phone appointment with my GP just to make sure what I was taking was adequate - didn’t want to leave it until 39 weeks to check just incase!
I know the midwives are run off their feet at the moment and are dealing with lots of staff shortages like all areas of the NHS so there’s not really a huge amount that can be done 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’m 33 weeks and agree with you. I had a precious stillbirth so am hyper anxious. Had to go to scans alone and saw midwife for first time at 28 weeks. It’s DEFINITELY less support than I got in my last pregnancy.

It may be worth contacting the director of midwifery at your nearest hospital and making a complaint. They will then follow up and advise you

Can I suggest that if nothing else you urgently investigate some antenatal classes? NCT and others are offering online courses. You've still got time if you choose a fairly intensive course. Then at least you'll be a bit more clued up about what to expect in labour and your options and choices.

It’s definitely not good care if you are not being seen by a midwife.

What I can get from your posts is that you are having scans etc but not getting the regular “check in” appointments which you’d usually have at your GPs with a community midwife or you’d attend the unit at the hospital etc

But as fucking ‘rona has messed all this stuff up I would say you need to call the community midwife team again and tell them you are mentally struggling and need a call back from a midwife ASAP. And basically repeat that until you get a call back and someone will put something into action for you.

It must be really hard for services at the moment but this really isn’t good enough no, basically you need to be a pest until you get some kind of response.

It’s shocking just much things have gone to pot - my GP is still doing appointments, yeah it’s basically over the phone but I’ve been in for a smear and my child’s jabs etc - the appointments are there for those who need it. Shocked that some GPs have all but closed