Booking appointment

[LozC0411]

Hi everyone, I'm currently 8 weeks pregnant and I am wondering what to expect at my booking appointment? I'm going on my own as I don't see the point in my partner coming if there is no scan. What are the questions like? And do they always take bloods and check urine and bmi etc?

Hi OP! My baby is 5 months old so my booking appt was last year but it was really just lots of questions, they ask about health issues in you/partner/family, they ask about where you live & who with, they ask about baby’s dad, they ask about your physical/mental health and they do also ask about domestic abuse. It’s basically a list of questions they have to go through. I went on my own, would have been pointless both of us going as it was really quite long and boring!

Yes they do blood test, urine test and do height & weight at booking. They do urine test at every appointment x

I had breath, bloods, urine and BMI tested. Questions were very thorough, all aspects of my physical and mental health history, previous pregnancies, any heredity family diseases, then social aspects like our living situation, if I’m supported, any social services involvement, domestic abuse, drug and alcohol use, making sure I was aware of pregnancy guidance, FGM. She also discussed briefly breastfeeding and touched briefly on birth options in my area. I was also on my own and didn’t need my husband there - though checked about his family history before I went. It took about 1hr 45 mins in the end even though my answers were fairly uncomplicated!

My husband hasn't come to any midwife appointments, only scans. In our NHS trust, they send you a questionnaire to complete before hand, and then go through it with you at the appointment. Then blood tests, urine test, weight, carbon monoxide test. they briefly mentioned locations for birth, but I didn't see any point in discussing that so early on, especially as I had a miscarriage before after I'd had my booking appointment, so you can just say it's too early to discuss.

If you are UK based and have the badger app it details what they ask, your appointment details and results of any tests so worth downloading.
I had mine this year, loads of questions - some are quite personal to your situation, breathalyser, bloods, urine, BMI and blood pressure taken. They will give you advise on vitamins, healthy eating etc and anything to look out for (like bleeding etc) and who to call if needed. Any safeguarding issue will be discussed if needed and they will book your next appointment and likely put you forward for first scan. If they need to make a referral for any reason they will do this then.

They asked me some questions about DH's family medical history, which i wouldn't have been able to answer on my own. So if your DP isn't coming, it might be worth him making sure he is free at the time of the appointment, because you could call or message him if you need the answers.

I did the self referral 3 weeks ago, I'm now over 8 weeks and I haven't received a call to book the appointment which is bugging me, I'm thinking of calling my local hospital today?
I only want to know what happens as I will be going on my own for this one so I like to be as prepared as possible..

Yeah I am planning on asking him if there is anything at all I need to know about his and families medical history, I just don't see the point in him coming especially as he is self employed so will not get paid if he comes with me

Sounds like a good plan. It was a while ago but if I remember rightly, it's things like whether there are any genetic illnesses in the family, what parents / siblings have died from (if they have passed away), any history of high blood pressure / preeclampsia / heart disease. If you do a search on MN for booking appointment, I'm sure someone will have put up a fuller list.

These will help -

https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/your-pregnancy-care/your-antenatal-appointments/

www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/finding-out/your-first-midwife-appointment/

Thank you for this! He has a son (with someone else) is it worth me also finding out about that too? I don't know if that would have any effect on me or not..

Hiya everyone, hope your all okay🤗
So I had my scan on Thursday and it went really well, I was measuring only 3 days behind what I had thought and everything was fine! Contacted my GP about my booking appointment as I did the online referral nearly 4 weeks ago now and they said they hadn't received anything and told me to do it again! I'm 9 weeks on Friday so it's really frustrating. Does anyone have any tips/ advice on this to speed it up?

I wouldn't stress too much about timings. All of my midwife appointments have been later than the dates they say. I filled in self referral as soon as I found out at 4 weeks and didn't have my booking until 10 weeks etc. It's not vital that it happens in that week!

Also I wouldn't bother with your GP, call the midwives in your area and speak to them about getting it arranged. If you've done the self referral form there should be details of numbers you can call to speak to them? Whichever hospital trust is your local one it should be on their website under maternity services.. Congratulations 😁

I know its not always perfect timing however I would like to at least have it booked so I can let work know etc, It's just annoying as I've been completely left in the dark with it and the nurse at my doctors hadn't received my referral which she sounded concerned about, so then told me to fill it out again!
I was thinking of calling the hospital, I'm assuming it'll be the antenatal unit number?
And, thank you🤗

Totally understand your frustration! Every trust should have a number for the community midwives which are the ones that will deal with appointments etc. Where I'm from in Norfolk it used to be called Medicom, you'd ring the number and arrange your appointment. Here's a screenshot of the self referral form for Norfolk and Norwich hospital where you have to phone to arrange the booking appointment, could it be that you also need to phone in your area?

I wouldn't have thought the antenatal clinic would deal with booking in appointments but if you can't find the number for community then they should be able to point you in the right direction anyway!

I'm in Birmingham and I cant find a number for community midwives for my trust, the nurse I spoke to wasn't very helpful either and I know its different for each areas of the UK so I just don't know what to do, I'm thinking wait this week and see if I hear anything, if not, then next week call the hospital instead of doctors?

Have a look online and you should be able to find a link to self-refer. I think for Birmingham its BSOL LMNS - BUMP. As long as your address with your GP is up to date and you have your NHS number you can do your referral online yourself and that will trigger your appointments being booked in x

I have filled this in twice now, first one was nearly 4 weeks ago, I called my doctors on Friday and the nurse told me to fill it out again and didn't tell me anything else or who to contact if I don't receive a call...

Did you select a hospital when you filled the form out? If you did, call that hospital. They are supposed to respond within 10 days so once you are past that point start chasing x

I selected my GP and also a hospital, I received a call 3/4 days later saying someone will give me a call to book in within a week, that was 3 weeks ago now, when I called my doctors she said they hadn't received anything when they should have, so then gave it me to fill out again. If I don't hear anything this week I may call my chosen hospital, If that'll do anything? x

Yes call the hospital rather than the GP. I assume it’s the same everywhere but the GP really have nothing to do with your pregnancy care, the GP just lets them know you’re pregnant, so if you’ve already done that then contact your hospitals midwife/maternity unit x