Newly pregnant and having trouble getting a first appointment

[EggyM]

Hi, I am currently 5+2 weeks on my second pregnancy. The first ended in miscarriage early this year at 6 weeks and because of the problems they encountered I ended up having a fallopian tube removed in april. So obviously I am totally thrilled that I am pregnant again.

But went to the GP yesterday who just asked if I was taking folic acid and then sent me back to reception to book a midwife appointment. But reception said the doctor was new and that wasn't how they did it - I would need an antenatal appointment with another GP before they will even refer me to a midwife. But they can't give me this appointment for 3 weeks! So this would make me almost 9 weeks pregnant before I am even referred to a midwife and I guess I would have to wait at least a couple of weeks for an appointment especially seeing as Christmas and New Year are immediately after this drs appointment. Is this normal / acceptable?

I know different trusts do it differently- this is bucks nhs trust so not sure if this is standard but I am sure you are meant to see your midwife at 8 weeks and I am really worried that because of this GP's ineptitude that all of my initial antenatal care (including my 12 week scan I suppose) is going to be pushed back to later than it should be. I already tried making a fuss but to no avail. Any advice? Am I getting worried over nothing?

I'm sure you're right. Write a letter, in the first case to the practise manager, asking to be referred to the midwife sooner than that.

But don't panic too much: midwives do work over Christmas so you should still be OK.

And congratulations!

Congrats!
Can you ring the midwife directly?
The 8 week appointment iirc is more about filling in paperwork, but I suspect given your history, you will be very keen to know everything is OK with a scan, which they might start the paperwork for?

I didnt have my midwife app till 91/2weeks and alot of girls on my thread were around that up to 10 do I think it's pretty standard to be honest, I didn't even have to see a doc first so 91/2 weeks was my first app, it used to be earlier but I think it has changed of late so that you don't do it till later now, if you want nucal scan etc they are still obliged to make sure you have it between 11+5 and 13+5 so scan shouldn't be too late, mine was at what I thought was 12+5

I'm 7+3 weeks and have an appt with my GP next Friday when I will be 8+2. This was the earliest appt they could offer me. I'm in East London.

I'm not too worried, I figure it will work itself out!! I just don't really understand why a doctors appt is necessary, it's not like they need to do a test any more. I feel like I'm using an appt that would be better used by an ill person!!

Congratulations on your pregnancy! Was your first pregnancy ectopic? If so, you should be scanned at 6 weeks. If not the wait sounds normal and nothing to worry about!

Ok thanks guys - that has reassured me a bit that the wait is kind of normal - I just got panicked when people on other threads were talking about having midwife appointments at 6-7 weeks. I guess I'll just have to accept that I have to wait a bit longer than some other people for it. I know there's not a lot they can tell me that I don't already know at this point anyway... Mainly I am just really impatient to get a scan and see that things are ok. Fingers crossed I get there this time.

lorsa it wasn't an ectopic - they found on a scan after my miscarriage that I had a huge amount of scar tissue from an appendix operation 20 years ago and that it had wrapped around my uterus and irrepairably damaged my right fallopian tube. But thankfully after 11 more months of trying I can finally confirm that my left tube is clearly doing its job

My area is either very overworked or very disorganised, as although my doctor referred me to a midwife no appointment materialised. Eventually I rang the maternity unit directly as my 12 week scan deadline was coming up. They booked the scan there and then, and I saw a midwife a couple of weeks later.

It is worth reading up on what services you need as you may need to book these yourself e.g flu and whooping cough vacc, consultant appointments for any existing health issues you may have.

Ring the antenatal unit at your local hospital and book your first appointment with them. You can always switch back later to your GP surgery but you will probably find that your midwife works in both places anyway.