Help me get to midwife appt safely?

[FUCorona]

Got a few midwife appointments coming up (third trimester) at St Thomas hospital in central London. I've been offered to do the next one by phone, but am nervous to do that in case they miss something eg blood pressure etc and other symptoms. I'm fairly high risk due to age, and took a long time to conceive with fertility treatments so don't want to take any chances with this pregnancy.

I've been in isolation and avoiding going anywhere. I'm nervous about travelling there and of course moving round the hospital itself. Anyone in London, what's the safest way for me to get to hospital?

No car. Taxi / Uber feels reckless what with the number of passengers and possibility of infected driver. Tube- I could just try to stand not touching anything but depends how busy the train is. I could walk but it's 5 miles each way. Or I could get an hourly hire 'car club' car and Dettol the life out of it before I get in.

And has anyone done this since the lockdown? How do I socially distance myself in the hospital?

Going in is very risky, nevermind the journey.

Yes exactly! How to weigh up and minimise the risks...?

Anyone done this during lockdown?

Think I would hire the car but get someone to sanitise it for you. How you get safely through this last trimester

You could buy a blood pressure monitor online and some urine testing kits.

Could you transfer your maternity care to a smaller suburban hospital that has no critical care?

Hi OP, is there an option to have your appointments at a different clinic rather than the hospital and closer to you?
I had a baby at at Thomas's and midwife was elsewhere closer to home and easier to walk to. May be worth asking.

I've been driving to mine so I would go with the hire car option and clean it.

Could you do the appointment over the phone, and perhaps get a blood pressure check, urine sample etc at a doctors surgery closer to home?

I would not go into St Thomas - it is a Covid specialist unit, so do minimise any chance of having to go there.

Ask for a community midwife appointment or do the phone appointment and have a blood pressure check at your GP surgery (at ours you can just do it a reception, you will have to call and ask do it).

Can you not see your local midwife for blood pressure etc and do a video appointment with the specialist?

Thanks for these suggestions. An update, my midwife has emailed to say my next appointment will be phone based but then there will be a few later ones which will take place at the hospital. I'm receiving specialist care there- she is a specialist midwife - and so it has to take place at the hospital itself and can't be done at another centre.

So the forthcoming appointment will be on the phone, but in about 3 weeks I'll have to decide how to get there.

So far I'm torn between the options. Terrified of missing something if I Dettol the hire car. You never know when it was last hired out. If I knew the tube would be empty it could be ok, but there's no guarantee.

Do you have a friend who could give you a lift and you could sit in the back diagonal to the driver so you are max distance away?

Can you check with the midwife what precautions they are taking? My maternity unit is locked and sealed off to members of the public. I have to park the car then call the midwife then she unlocks to doors and comes out. I have to go alone. How often are they disinfecting clinical areas where they are doing the antenatal checks. Will the midwife be wearing a mask, etc?

Wear latex gloves in the car and take another pair for dealing with parking meters etc.