Still waiting to see midwife - really getting me down!?

[BeanInMyBelly]

Hey all, I am 11wks 1d since LMP, had my first midwife appointment booked for this morning but when i got to the surgery the nurse told me the midwife was sick and that she would get her to call me to rearrange the appointment. This has really depressed me, as I called at the beginning of last week to see if I could change my appointment, and was told she wasn't available again until the 9th september. If she wasn't available til then before she was sick, how will she be able to keep up with all the backlog of women she won't have seen while off sick!? I am not prepared to wait until 9th september +, as I will be about 15 weeks then. This is my first pregnancy and I am a bit suprised at the lack of support/contact details/information given in the first trimester - I havn't seen anyone since my doctors appointment at 4 weeks, and that only lasted 5 mins.

Also, I was really looking forward to getting a dating scan booked, as I won't be able to relax until I actually see a heartbeat, and me and DH don't want to tell friends/family etc until after the scan. Has anyone booked a dating scan before seeing a midwife, or know if I can do it myself (on the NHS not private)? If I ring the doctors surgery will they be able to book a scan for me before seeing the midwife? Thanks for any information/advice, and sorry to moan on for so long!! PS - I live in North Wales if that makes any difference.

Ring the surgery and explain that you NEED to be booked in to see a midwife, no excuses. If not that midwife, then another one. Certain scans, procedures, blood tests etc. all need to be done in the early stages and these all need to be arranged for you otherwise you'll constantly be behind with your scans etc. Don't take no for an answer. Tell them this is your first pregnancy and you need to be seen. The worry and stress you can well do without. Let us know how you get on. x

Insist on seeing another midwife.

You can book a private scan yourself, but with the NHS you usually don't get to book them all yourself. You might be able to ask your GP to do it for you if you can't see a midwife this week.

Agreed, you do feel very abandoned as there is nothing from "dr I'm pregnant" to the booking in appointment.

This stuff is regional, but with me, the scans are all set up via the FMU at the hospital whereas the MW appointments are done separately, although both are triggered by the initial GP referral. So, I had the date of my scan sent to me a long way in advance.

Since time is ticking on, I would contact (phone preferably) the Supervisor of Midwives at the hospital and explain what is going on. The GP surgery is probably pretty limited in what it can do as this stuff is hospital based. SoM should be able to sort you an appointment with MW even if the first one is at the hospital rather than your local clinic.

these doctors surgeries seem to have a sneeky way of fitting people in when they need to even if before people were supposidly fully booked - I was told for my 12 week scan that they were fully booked until I was about 15 weeks....then they suddenly managed to magic space for me at 12 weeks 15 minutes later!!

Don't worry too much, just be assertive about getting an appointment soon, maybe they could postpone any current early booking in appointments to fit you in or extend the surgery or they ight get someone in for a few days just to help with the back log.

I got my booking in at 10 weeks, and I felt frustrated that this seemed alot later than everyone else, so I can only imagin how frustrated you feel! If they do put you off a bit longer I would suggest making sure you have a dating/nuchal scan booked over the phone if you're going to have one though, so you have a date for that booked, as those have to be done at a specific point in time. My midwife booked my scan for me over the phone before I had my booking in, so maybe if you rung them they could do something similar.

If you want to pay for a private scan from my experience they are in the region of £100.

I was quite dissapointed with my booking in tbh, it was mainly just form filling.

Angels 1 - surely 10 weeks is the earliest for booking in? It certainly is round here!

Booking-in is pretty dull (no pregnancy test there either), but it is good for feeling that one is "on the system".

Well, if you're not booked in until 15 weeks - you'll be too far on for a nuchal fold scan for a start.
I would see your gp - and ask him which tests are available to you at this stage - and that you want him to organise them for you as if you have to wait until 15 weeks (to see the midwife) - you may have missed some of them.
This happened to me in my 3rd and 4th pregnancies and the midwife had the cheek to write on my notes that I had declined tests... I had not - due to their slack "booking in" system - they hadn't booked me in intime to do them!!!
I'm not standing for it this time around, I will go and see the gp and get him to do the midwifes job if she is too busy - I am not going to miss out on tests that should be available to me!

from the ante-natal board I'm on here it was late - most people seemed to be between 6 - 9 weeks booked in! My midwife lit says in my area it usually happens 8 - 10 weeks.

I've been told it's around 10 weeks here that they book you in - and the nuchal fold scan and blood tests need organising between 11 and 13 weeks I think.

I tried ringing the doctors at lunchtime to see if someone else could book my dating scan in for me, only to be met with an answerphone message informing me the surgery is shut for the afternoon for staff training.
I will wait until tomorrow lunchtime to see if the midwife calls, if not will try ringing the doctors again!

My midwife told me you HAVE you have a dating scan booked for before a certain date or your nuchal fold cannot be calculated.

My friend also had this and managed to swing an appointment by being annoyingly persistant.

Good luck!

Bean - Try the hospital! Stop messing around with GP!

Deadline for nuchal is 13 + 6 (I believe). Dating and other scans are not time critical (although important).

In our area - we are not allowed a "dating scan".... we only get an early scan if we have a bleed.

Hence I am paying for my own private scan this evening - because I am concerned to know my pregnancy is going ok - after some miscarriages - including a missed miscarriage previously.

We are lucky to be allowed a nuchal scan on the nhs in our area now - as previously that was not offered (and would have to be private also).