what can i expect at my booking in appointment?

[moschops]

i have my booking in appointment with the midwife in two weeks time and was wondering what i should expect.

my doctor didn't give me any indication, he just asked me to sign a form and told me to make an appointment with the midwife.

would it be appropriate to take my dp or not?

i'm not really worried but would like to be armed with a bit of knowledge in advance.

Hi moschops. My experience has been similar, but not exactly the same. I think you should take your DP if you/he want him to be there. But, you'll get on just fine withour him as well. I've never been asked for my shoe size (and I'm 5'-1" with a small bone structure so you'd think I'd be a likely candidate for that question). You will be asked to provide a urine sample at EVERY midwife appointment. Blood tests are common too.

Things you might want to ask about:
1- Ante natal classes (as these need to be booked early in most areas)
2- What scans/tests are offered during your pregnancy
3- When can you tour the hospital (if you want a hospital birth).
4- If you want a home birth, ask if that is possible/advisable in your case. (for example some people live too far from the hospital for that to be practical -- just in case you need to be transerred to hospital)

Also, you will be given loads of information to read on things like breastfeeding and a zillion overpriced pregnancy products that you may or may not want to splurge on.

If your dp does not go, it would be worth you asking him for family medical history before you go, because you will probably be asked about that.

Congratulations Moschops! I've read the other couple of booking appt experiences and thought I would offer some of my thoughts too.
Firstly, they seem to vary enourmously in the amount and type of information asked for. For example, I was never asked my shoe size, or whether I have suffered with domestic violence etc. Maybe it varies according to where you live. I can't imagine why they your shoe size would have any bearing on pushing out a baby, but there you go!

You do get a lot of information, which I always found difficult to remember. If you think you're going to struggle, take dp along ( I never took dp, only to the scans).

The midwife will probably take a urine sample, but I doubt they will take bloods for the routine tests, that is usually done by the nurse or phlebotomist and you'll have to make another appt for that The mw will tell you what they are testing for(HIV is optional).

If you feel overwhelmed ( I did the first time and a few weeks ago, the 2nd time) scribble a few notes down on a post-it or something, because there is a great deal to think about, tests and so on. You'll get loads of leaflets to help you make decisions though and of course the mw is there to answer questions too.

Definitley, write down any questions you have between this appt and the next, there are bound to be some and you are bound to forget them while you are in there!

Have fun!

in most areas, bloods are taken by the midwife. in the cases a phlebotomist does 'em is when the midwife can't cos of bad veins.

many midwives beleive that shoe size is indicative of pelvic capacity!

moschops i would def take dp. much easier than explaining to him what happened/what was said

Definitely an area thing with the bloods then! It's just routine at our surgery for bloods to be taken by the nurse or phleb. nothing to do with bad veins!

Yeah Pamina, there seems to have been a change in ante-natal care, for example the number of visits to the MW you get as a 2nd time mum is slightly less frequent than before. Also, in my county, we'll soon be having 12 week and 20 week scans, before it was only at 20.

thankyou for your advice.

had a sneaky suspicion i would have to give a urine sample, lol i'm not very good at doing it on demand!!! i am quite surprised that they don't at least give out a letter when you book the app. giving you some idea of what to expect.

i hope she does my blood tests though because the usual method for that here is to go our local hospital who do the blood clinics. you can't book an appointment for that and it has been known for people to wait 3.5 hours to be seen.(this always struck me as particularly stupid for the people who have to fast for their tests)

probably won't take dp for this one, gettng the time off work would be a lot of hassle if it's not important. but i will bear in mind to write down any questions i have and to check with family for medical history (in itself a challenge with one side being total liars/hypochondriacs)

my midwife kind of followed me when I was sent off to produce a sample, because it gave her the opportunity to ask whether there was anything I would rather my dh didn't know.

FYI when pregnant with DS I never had to give a urine sample to the midwives - they said it didn't indicate anything not indicated by something else! However, my care was shared with my GP, and I always had to take a sample to my GP appointment - so, nicely inconsistent there. It actually wouldn't have occured to me to take DH along - I always took / will take him along for scans though.

take dp for booking in at hospital if they do a scan - i made the mistake of going alone when unexpectedly told id had a missed m/c at scan and it was awful - they kept asking could they ring someone for me and I was left by myself for ages

Where I live you have a booking in appt with the community midwife, whereby you are given your hand held notes, a bounty preg guide book, a few info leaflets etc, you have your bp taken and usually they like you to give a urine sample.the midwife will ask about your domestic situation, any probs with housing etc,they ask for a general family history, any genetic disorders etc on both sides and will ask about your previous preg history, they will also tell you whether you have been booked in for shared care, consultant only care etc, give you all the hospital phone numbers you need and the midwives contact no.then here we get a seperate appt for a 12 week scan only and then you may be seen in the hospital clinic at about 14-16 weeks when they take all your bloods.you may be seen sooner than this at the hospital if you are likely to have a complicated preg.

Forgot to say, here the gp sends off the scan request when you go and get your preg confirmed.the booking appt is at 10 weeks here

hereshopping - that's a good point about taking dh in case they scan. I did and completely to our surprise the midwife grabbed a small scanner and did a scan when i complained that i didn't feel pregnant.

Hi. I have my booking in appt on Tuesday, and i'm worried it's a little early... GP was very unhelpful, and just told me to make a booking in appt with no indication of when. They gave me the next available appt, which is Tuesday (3 weeks since i saw my GP). I'll be 8 weeks then i think. Am i too early? (Spot the first timer...!!) Thanks xx