First appointment?

[LoveACuppaTea]

So I'm going to the docs on thursday to announce my pregnancy as it were! I'll be exactly 6 weeks (well like... it will be the first day of my 7th week thats how im counting it!)

So im asuming the doctor will refer me to a midwife? Then what happens? Do I need to wax lol xx

Hi ya... I went to my doctor last week to annouce my pregnancy with all high hopes... I waited in the waiting room for about 40mins and was in the doctors for about 10secs where he told me I needn't have booked an appointment with him and should have booked with the midwife at reception... I was gutted :(

So now after my first mistake am visiting the MW on Thursday, so will be looking forward to see what other post will happen on your first MW appointment.

I'm 10 weeks in, have seen 3 people about it and no one has gone anywhere near my nether regions yet! In fact, no one has even double checked I'm not making the whole thing up! So no, no need to wax yet, I shouldn't think!

hmm im really interested to find out what happens!

Is there anybody out there (out there, out there, out there)

LoveACuppa, prob best to call the docs, say that you're pregnant and ask what they normally do - I think it's pretty common to do what H007's practice does and not routinely arrange appointments until the 'booking appointment' around 10wks with the midwife, though isabella's obviously had different experiences. Might save you some time hanging around the surgery (though if you've any concerns or questions of course go to see the GP).

love it will depend what area you're in-some will expect you to see GP first, others you go straight to MW. Noone will look at your bits and weirdly they'll just take your word for it that your pg. I went to GP first, and they referred me into the ante natal system. I then received separate appiontments for MW booking in and 12 week scan.

Like aqua says, give the surgery a call and ask them how it works in your area.

Congratulations on the BFP by the way!

Ok. I can only speak from my own experience but this is what happened to me:

1. Initial GP appointment. Told him I thought I was pregnant. He merely took blood pressure/weight/height. Checked my heartbeat. Asked if I smoked/drank etc. That was all. He then said I needed to make another double appointment with him to get the ball rolling.
2. Double GP appointment. Seemed pointless as they did nothing more than appointment #1 but after it he told me to go to reception desk to get my 'mum to be pack' with lots of info / forms in it which I had to fill in re free prescriptions.
3. Inside pack was also phone number of midwife. I called the midwife and she arranged to come to my home for my 'booking in' appointment. At this, she brought round my birth registration folder which you must keep at all times.

She also took blood pressure/heart rate/height/weight. Asked dozens of questions about my and partner's health history. She was also supposed to take blood to do all the requisite tests -i.e. diabetes, STI, etc. etc. didn't as she didn't have my hospital number.

As a matter of fact, am now rather at sea as to what happens next as when I spoke to the surgery (midwife now on holiday) they ended up asking ME what tests I thought I needed.

I went to docs last week to check that my 2 BFPs were wrong and it was the change. Expected the GP to check but they did nothing just said i was preggies and did my BP. Which was sky high for obvious reasons. (Shock)

Then they ordered a series of blood tests which in truth they were going to do for other reasons last month, then they gave me the termination phone number and said they would fax the antenatal clinic to get me booked in as an urgent case .... If I decided to go ahead ... Still waiting.

Can someone tell me what urgent is in antenatal timescales? I am about 6 weeks now so do I sit around waiting for the 10 or 12 weeks deadline to pass? Or will they do something sooner? The doc said ring them if I terminated in the meantime!

I had my first docs appointment today. They just asked if i was taking vitamins, not smoking and not drinking then told me to book with the midwife! Got my first appointment on Tuesday! They didnt even check to make sure I wasnt making the whole thing up!!

They don't bother to check - home preg tests are just as good as the ones at the Drs so theres no point.

At your booking in apt with midwife (anywhere from 8-12 weeks) she will take bloods and do a medical history, plus ask if you are at risk of domestic violence. You will get given a plan of all the appointments you will get - they vary slightly from area to area I think but you really need this as you will sometimes need to chase up appointments. You will also get a huge pack of info about NHS antenatal classes and the free stuff and NHS guide to pregnancy (big purple book - very good actually).

Then you get a first scan (approx 11-13 weeks usually so they can do the Down Syndrome scan and bloods) and finally someone checks you are not making it up!

If you don't like having blood taken (like me!!) you can get the first two blood tests done at the same time - but be warned it results in them needing to take 4 or 5 tubes full so not fun at all!

I had to really chase appointments at first but now approaching due date and getting an appointment booked for me and alot more attention, so it seems the case that the more pregnant you are the higher priority you are. Makes sense really but does mean its a bit stressful at the beginning.

As fondant fancy says, there is some variation on the theme dependent on your local area. But nothing much happens for a while as far as I can tell - I had a GP appt (bp/bmi/general health and taking folic acid) at 4 wks, followed by initial mw appt at 5wks (folic acid/bmi/bp... notice a theme? Plus urine for UTI checks), then booking apt last week at 8+3 with more detailed history, bmi, bloods for STI checks, urine for glucose... had a student mw there so took 3 goes to get bloods . I am a normal weight for my height so the obsession with my bmi (without bothering to recheck my weight at any stage) is odd.
But don't think that these are going to get dramatically more exciting - did get a cup of (weak, obv... I'm pg!) tea at the booking apt.

My original GP made the receptionist do a test before making an appointment. With number 2 at a different GP she tested while I was sitting there, and even said this is very old fashioned HPT are very accurate. This time no check at all of urine, just reasurrance as it was unplanned and far too near to my EMCS, so most of my appointment was me booing like a mad woman.

I am 16 weeks and had someone routing about in my lady bits a couple of weeks ago but that was because I was admitted to hospital with pain.
With my last no one went near it until labour.

Hi everone, found this:

First (booking) appointment

Should be before 12 weeks of pregnancy. May need to be two appointments because of volume of information required to be imparted. All information should initially be offered verbally and backed up in writing with an opportunity to discuss and ask questions.

Should cover lifestyle topics such as diet, alcohol, smoking, exercises etc; together with antenatal care services available and maternity benefits.
Initial measurement of weight, BMI and BP. Repeated weighing is only appropriate in later pregnancy where it is likely to affect management.
Clinician needs to provide enough information to make an informed decision about undergoing available screening tests.
Offer screening of mother for:
    Anaemia
    Red cell allo-antibodies
    Hepatitis B virus
    HIV
    Rubella susceptibility
    Syphilis
    Asymptomatic bacteriuria
Arrange as agreed. There is no evidence to support routine screening for gestational diabetes.1
Offer early scan for assessment of gestational age, preferably performed at 10-13 weeks, measuring the crown-rump length. Alternatively, at or after 14 weeks, measure bi-parietal diameter, or circumference of head.
Offer screening of fetus for Down's syndrome. NB: ensure patient is aware that she is not obliged to have Down's screening tests and that they have (depending on test) 60% detection rate and 5% false positive rate. Screening may involve nuchal translucency on ultrasound before 14 weeks or serum tests at 14-20 weeks, e.g. double, triple, quadruple.
Offer screening of fetus for other structural anomalies by ultrasound scan at 20 weeks, if available.
Need to identify those women who may require extra care and create a plan for this.13 Ask about any current or previous significant medical or psychiatric illnesses. Use of the Edinburgh PND score to screen antenatally is NOT appropriate.
Routine breast and pelvic examinations are not recommended, as not shown to give any benefits. Where appropriate, the question of genital mutilation should be raised sensitively.

Further appointments

16 weeks: this appointment should be used to review the results of earlier tests, discuss them with the patient and if necessary institute a changed pattern of antenatal care having identified those women who require additional care. Consider offering oral iron to women with a haemoglobin 

Hi all I just went to docs this morning after getting bfp yesterday and took my pee sticks with me...clearly lines there but not as dark as the control line. The doc said they weren't dark enough and sent me home saying to test this time next week and go back again if lines darker...oh and that she didn't want to waste time filling in any forms at the moment! Guess all surgeries are different but that was definitely not what I was expecting! I'm 17DPO and 5 days late for AF! Anyone had a similar experience? I've now noticed that on my local hospital website I could just 'self refer' so am wondering whether to do that and not bother with the docs again!