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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

MW booking appt - any shorter 2nd time?

19 replies

mrsalwaysawake · 10/07/2012 11:06

Just that, really. I remember last time it being quite long and dull with the mw going through word by word the health questionnaire I'd filled in.
I'll be going to the same hosp, less than 2 years since last time. Is there any chance it might be quicker this time?!

(yes, I know it's all important stuff, just hoping that as they know who I am and have my notes from last time, we don't have to go over all the same stuff in the same detail)

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gemdrop84 · 10/07/2012 11:23

Im afraid not! I had mine 4 wks ago at 8wks pg. Still quite long!

Original poster

mrsalwaysawake · 10/07/2012 11:43

Boo :(

OP posts:

Longtalljosie · 10/07/2012 11:46

Goodness no! You have a birth to talk about this time!

domesticslattern · 10/07/2012 11:53

In my experience, they didn't have the notes from last time, they wanted to talk about my last pg and birth, they had a crazy system of having both to write in the book and enter it onto the computer (which kept saying no), the midwife was a fruit loop, there was a student who everything had to be explained to... It took nearly 2 hours IIRC and went on until 1900 when I said I simply can't sit here any more while you wrestle with your computer, I have to go!
So be assertive and ask how long it will go on for and explain your other commitments!

BionicEmu · 10/07/2012 13:31

2nd one was longer, if anything, I'm afraid. You still have everything to go through the same as in the first one, plus all the stuff to do with your first pregnancy/birth!

MrsReiver · 10/07/2012 13:40

Yup, longer as you have to go over your last pregnancy and labour. I'm also really looking forward to telling them all about the mc in August. Seriously - you'd think they could collate all this information so I don't have to rehash it! Grr.

ninani · 10/07/2012 13:55

First time, they wrote down everythng in red book. Second time, there was a student writing typing everything in the pc and took ages as the experienced midwife had to tell her where to write what! Last time it was just one midwife but they hadn't given her the right password, or she had mixed it up with something else and took ages to log in. AND they keep asking about previous pregnancies, outcomes, weight, method of delivery and there is always something missing, even the week they were born!!

Original poster

mrsalwaysawake · 10/07/2012 14:43

First pregnancy/birth was pretty straightforward, so at least that won't add much time, then :)

OP posts:

stowsettler · 10/07/2012 15:18

Is this the very first time you meet your MW? 'Cos I did that last week (this is my first) and my appt was less than 10 mins. She just asked a few basic questions, weighed and measured me and said I'd get my scan appt in a week or so.

PineappleBed · 10/07/2012 15:19

Friends have told me it's longer as you have to cover all the previous pregnancy stuff.

Pascha · 10/07/2012 15:22

About the same for me, much more relaxed though as it was the same MW and we chatted over tea in the kitchen about the last labour, the idiocy of some doctors, sorting the screen on DHs iphone, how DS has grown etc...

Still a load of bastard forms but we got through that quite quickly.

Lexilicious · 10/07/2012 15:44

... do they pull up your previous birth notes off the computer (assuming you're in the same / compatible health authority) or is it worth calling up the midwifery service that hold them yourself and having them ready? Especially if you have moved?

Because I'd assume they would want the obstetrics-speak version of your first birth rather than the "then I got the pain relief and it all went fuzzy" version (sorry, I'm being facetious).

e.g. from my perspective, I was in labour for over 54 hours, but they said I wasn't really in labour until I was 3cm dilated and from then on it was "only" 8 hrs.

Pascha · 10/07/2012 15:55

Nope, no previous notes. We were in my kitchen, it was just a chat and a tick box questionnaire about my last labour. I said I had gas&air, she wrote Entonox in the box; I said pethidine was shit, she agreed, wrote it in the box and we had a laugh about it. She asked how the birth went, if there were any complications, wrote down the birthweight and we moved on. No questions whatsoever about how many hours or any specifics I didn't mention really.

Unless your last birth was atrocious, she won't want much more.

Original poster

mrsalwaysawake · 10/07/2012 16:09

Hmmm. We'll be in the same building as where I gave birth to DS, so my notes will be readily available. Hopefully that will help.

OP posts:

BionicEmu · 10/07/2012 16:43

They didn't have my previous pregnancy notes, just asked lots of questions. I think there was a long list of possible problems with obstetric history, and when I answered yes to any then we had to launch into the details (pre-eclampsia, premature labour etc). I don't think it really went into previous labour in any great detail though, seemed mainly major things that you'd almost certainly know about.

I am with a different hospital this time though, (same community MWs), and I do know that the paperwork is completely different to last time. My MW doesn't do many referrals to the hospital I'm with now, so it took a long time to get our heads around what to write where in the book. Apparently there is a set of UK standardized pregnancy notes, but hardly any hospitals seem to use it, they all have their own

MrsReiver · 10/07/2012 17:12

I said pethidine was shit

Wash your mouth out! Pethidine is great fun

Pascha · 10/07/2012 17:32

Pethidine did bugger all for me and my MW told me one of the visiting obstetric consultants basically admitted it was given as a sedative rather than a pain reliever so they could get on with other stuff.

My experience was exactly that.

EMS23 · 10/07/2012 17:37

Opposite experience for me, my DD was 14 months when I got pregnant again and in that short time, the system has changed.

Saw MW at GP surgery and she gave me a blank set of notes to fill in, in my own time at home plus a phone number to call to book my scan. Just had to have the notes filled in by the time I went for my scan.
Less than 10 mins compared to the 2 hour borefest first time round.

Catsycat · 10/07/2012 17:42

The days of filling in your own notes have gone here, unfortunately. Have just had DD3, and it took ages to fill them in with the mw, as we had 2 births and a mc to digest... The good side is that after 2 previous DDs, I know the mws pretty well, and we had a bit of a laugh, plus she came round here to complete them (ran out of time at the booking appt!!!) so at least we were sitting on comfy sofas not the hard surgery chairs!!!

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