Advise re. pregnancy needed

[Mariaaaa]

Hi all!

I'm new here, so hello to everyoneHope you are doing OK.

Last week I've found out I'm pregnant with my first baby.
I'm originally from outside of UK and dont have here family/ friends with young babies unfortunatelly, so Im feeling a bit lost.

I'd need your experience then what the next steps are in terms of choosing the midwife/ hospital etc.

Do you choose midwife yourself or is she assigned to you? When do you need to choose the hospital of your baby- birth? Do you have any recommendation in Petts Wood/ Orpington area-both in terms of the hospital and midwives?

If there is anything that you think might be helpful for me at this stage, please let me know.

Many thanks
Maria

In most areas in the UK, you self-refer in early pregnancy to the hospital you want to give birth in via an online form. In many areas you have a choice of local hospitals and can consider size, facilities, distance away, rate of C sections etc.

The midwives of that hospital will care for you during your pregnancy. Once you self refer they will reach out to make a first appointment, either for a twelve week scan or for a booking in appointment between eight and twelve weeks.

Are you registered with a UK GP? Go on their website. They may well have instructions/advice on what to do next if you are pregnant. If not, call the GP reception and ask and they will direct you. In most areas now you don't need to see the GP.

The process for getting the first midwife appointment can vary slightly area to area. With mine, I rang up the GP surgery and they gave me the number to call for the midwife team. I then booked my initial appointment and that midwife was the one I saw throughout, although it didn’t have to be. She would book in my next appointment with me during the previous one, and if I couldn’t make any of the appointment times that were available with her I could have seen someone else. But you don’t choose your midwife beyond that, and your midwife may not be there when you give birth (mine was, but just by chance, she could easily have not been at the hospital that day).

The first step is to book yourself in with your chosen hospital. There will be a form to fill in on their website in the maternity section. The midwifery team there will contact you and send you a booking in appointment for that will happen at around 8/9 weeks. You need to look at your local hospitals and decide which is the one you'd like to give birth at. Look at where is the closest and also at things like CQC ratings, and whether they offer you what you want in terms of giving birth (options for water birth/co-located MLU etc).

I had my DS at the Princess Royal University Hospital in Orpington and can recommend them. It's part of Kings so all scans happen at the Denmark Hill site, and I think you get an extra scan as it's a research site. The midwife appointments happen local to you though. For actually giving birth, the MLU at the PRU was great and the staff were amazing.

Just to add, have a look on the NHS website for info on pregnancy. There is a run down of useful information at this stage such as vitamins (start taking a pre-natal vitamin straight away or at least Folic Acid and Vit D) and foods to avoid, caffiene intake etc. which you might find helpful as a jumping off point as it can feel like quite a while before that first midwife appointment! The website also gives info on the appointment schedule to expect. Congratulations and best wishes!