Midwife on holiday for first appointment?! Typical NHS?

[frannie2013]

Hi - I'm probably fussing over what will be nothing (I know...) but when I went to my GP to say I was pregnant, two days later I got a call from a midwife to book my appointment with her - that appointment is on wednesday morning and I was absurdly looking forward to it as i can actually talk about it to someone face to face as don't have scan for another week and a half and will have to see about tests etc. I was really impressed with their efficiency...
I've been texting the midwife over the past week (only a couple of times) for advice/reassurance as i've got the most awful bloody cold and can't sleep etc.
she texted me back today apologising for the delay and said this was because she was off on holiday this week. no one has told me that so i'm assuming that i'll just see a colleague of hers?
is this just typical NHS activity and more to be expected? Do you ever see the same midwife or is it just whoever is there at the time? I've got some complicated gyna history and am likely to get referred and explaining things time and time again is going to be so tricky as i forget things ALL THE TIME!!!

Typical nhs? That's a bit of a crap outlook.

I had a nightmare pregnancy and saw lots of different midwives and was grateful to them all.

I wouldn't have thought to text mine tbh - is that usual?

You've been texting your midwife because you have a cold? Really??

Yes, you won't have one particular midwife at your beck and call throughout your pregnancy - you'll probably be seen by a team.

A midwife allowed a holiday??? Ive hardly had any holidays in 8 years apart from mat leave lol.

Anyway, a midwife should not be judged by her skills not that she/he NHS or private

In my area of practise, its team midwifery. Theres about 10 mws to a team and during your antenatal period, you would meet a few of them. During labour at our unit, you would have a different mw from our labour ward 'core' staff

I dont know how it works at your unit.

Ive never heard of a mw giving her mobile number out but it maybe the mobile belonging to the team of midwives.

anyway best of luck

Erm, without meaning to sound rude, did you really expect that the whole way through your 9 month pregnancy you would only see one midwife? They aren't on call 24 hrs a day 365 days a year.

I had two midwives who saw me during my pregnancy and after, and I thought that was pretty good going! That's not including the whole load of midwives I saw when I was induced and in labour in hospital.

In the nicest possible way, you need to chill out. Your personal notes which you will have with you at every appointment will tell them everything they need to know about your medical history, so you won't need to remember to tell them every time.

Please relax and enjoy your pregnancy, it's a magical time

Why did you contact a midwife about having a cold? I suspect she gave you her number for if you have any pregnancy related problems e.g pains, bleeding, concerns about lack of movement later in pregnancy, not because a snotty nose is stopping you sleeping! As others have said it was good of her to contact you when she is on AL.

It will depend what sort of system you are under, community midwives or hospital how likely you are to see the same midwife regularly and if you will have met the midwife who attends the birth. With both of mine I ended up having a member of the team I hadn't met just because of the timing, but that was no problem and she stayed with me until the end of my long first labour- no change of shift which would have happened if I had been under the hospital midwives.

thankyou nenehoo. its nice to know we're appreciated. oh and to all the others who have nice comments about us midwives

I think the midwives are getting right into texting now Bob - mine has sent me a few over arranging a scan & they were talking to the student MW about texting clients at my last checkup.

Maybe it encourages young mums to ask for help and support, instead of being nervous to call?

I'm amazed that you are encouraged to text the midwife at all.
(Are you sure you are meant to?)

If you've got an appointment its probably safe to say you will see a midwife. Early community midwife appointments are usually pretty quick and straightforward (I did booking in over the phone with my third child, but knew the team well by then!) and they tend to focus their energies on people later in their pregnancies or with complications. You'll be fine. Midwives are a special breed.

Thanks for all of your comments. clearly it is normal to see lots of different people and that is reassuring that I haven't been 'lost' in the system (it can happen) and it is all pretty straightforward, though some experiences seem to be very different to others.

Yes this is my first pregnancy so I have NO idea what to expect (isn't that what this forum is to help with sometimes?) and I suppose you rarely hear about what is 'normal' and just hear about the horror stories of when things go wrong.

SHe said from day 1 to contact her with any questions at all - which I know is very nice - and I thought texts would be better than phoning... I've apologised each time for contacting her and thanked her each time for responding. maybe it is just a great service my local centre offers.

my 'cold' (i never usually get ill) has meant that I have not slept properly for about a week (useful practice i suppose?!!!) as my coughing is really 'violent' with loads of yukky stuff (I won;t go into to too much detail) and can barely eat and wanted to check what medicines could be used or not - if anyone has any suggestions on what might help please do let me know!

I really don't want to talk about whether it is a boy or girl! Promise! (we are not going to get the test done to find out even, though I can understand why people do!) i just want to know that it is growing ok and is healthy and what the next steps are etc. I know for some people this is pretty usual stuff, but for others this is a scary, and yes exciting, new world that we are trying to navigate!

The suggestions of writing down my history is really useful. thank you. I'll do that to help me remember - I know but i think its easy to forget sometimes and then think Damm I wish I'd remembered to say... afterwards.

have a nice evening all.

Being pregnant can do things to your mucous membranes. Means that you can be snottier, coldier and more sinusy than usual - they were looking for volunteers to take part in a study last time I was pregnant.

When you have been booked in you will get a set of notes that you must take everywhere with you at least when you have an appointment as they will become the bible for your pregnancy.

Your midwifery team is more than capable of booking cover for MWs on leave/training. The only issue I've experienced is that on one occasion my routine MW appt. was cancelled due to sickness which happened at short notice and couldn't be covered. I was rescheduled for the following week.

Congratulations on your pregnancy and sorry you have a cold. Paracetamol is fine in pg as is hot honey and lemon, lots of pillows, duvet days etc. If you think you have a chest infection then you need to see the GP.

I think you've had a "typical NHS" service up until now - you've seen a GP, got a scan appointment, got an appointment with a midwife booked and had replies to your texts. All free at the point of delivery, all confidential, all appropriate and involving skilled, trained, experienced professionals. I never had anything but genuine care throughout my pregnancies and I guess you will get the same. Aren't we lucky

My midwife who I never met has repeatedly canceled ALL my appointments from day one due to hoildays, each time GP receptionist would phone up to rearrange then later on get a call off my midwife saying over booked so could I rearrange it again so at my 30 week appointment. The midwife I seen who I felt sorry for was all over the place. I was needing a anti D injection and she had to ring the doctors over the road for some one to bring her anti D. She was so angry and said I should go to her GP. My doctors has rude receptionists, it's so unorganised, So I got an appointment with her next week, so happy to be seeing the same lady.

I understand people take hoildays but I got annoyed at the fact they kept making appointments to make them selves look good then canceling them over and over again. Frustrating at work to when I'm asking for time off and then changing it.

My old midwife rang me and seemed pretty annoyed why I'd moved doctors. A women who I've never met, I politely said I've moved area and gone to a docs closer to home. (Which was a lie) think she new the reason really.

I agree that, in the nicest possible way, you need to get a grip.

In my first two pregnancies I rarely saw the same midwife twice. This time, in a new area, I have a named midwife who has given me her mobile ( which I have only used once, when there was an issue with my scan outcome and I wasn't due another appt for a month). I haven't seen her every time as she has had holiday too but I am over the moon at my continuity of care this time.

I, so far, have had a great experience in terms of seeing my midwife. I don't know if it's my area, but she ensures that I see her at every visit.

I wouldn't mind if I didn't, I always take a little list of things to talk about (high risk preg) so I'm fine with whoever I get!

Try not to stress, I think writing everything down that a different midwife would need to know is fine

I'm iver half way through my pregnancy and yet to meet my midwife and I think it's disgusting :(

Barbsta - What, you haven't seen a midwife at all? You haven't been booked? You really need to get onto them and complain if that is the case and you are already past 20 weeks.

I have seen two different (I'm guessing) midwives and I'm over 20 weeks. Both times they took blood and took my high blood pressure and that's it. It's my first baby I don't know what to expect but I thought they measured your bump? Weighed you?

I had DD last year- Community midwives were fab (truly amazing)
Antenatal clinic staff were over run, stretched, busy, kept me waiting- BUT fantastic
labour ward staff- lovely,
theatre staff (Had EMCS) - The absolute most caring group of people I have ever met
postnatal ward staff- crap

As a whole I think I cannot complain about the NHS.

The same midwife doesnt work 24/7!

Oh my word how very dare the midwife have a holiday when it is time for your appointment! Clearly she should only be allowed a holiday when there are no pregnant women at all in your area so as not to disrupt things for anyone.

FFS

Midwives take annual leave. Sometimes they are on sick. Sometimes they have been on call for a home birth or community midwives have gone in to delivery suite for some shifts to make sure their skills remain up to date. During that time their clinics will be covered by someone else. Things differ from area to area but most trusts aim to have good continuity of care in the community. Staffing levels, sickness etc all affects this and I am aware that some people have shit continuity.

However in this case you booking appointment will have been scheduled for a particular time to get you in the system when you are a certain number of weeks pregnant (estimated) so that your scan appointment can be generated for the right time so that you can be offered and accurate dating scan and can be offered the combined screening test should you wish it. This happens to coincide with her holiday. If you really, really want to see her and not anyone else then delay your appointment. Just be aware that this may have an impact on your choices with regards to screening.

Where I am it is team midwifery like midwifeandmum (now wondering if you are the same area!). We also encourage women to get in touch with questions but the number we give out is the office number no a personal mobile! I am amazed at you getting a personal mobile actually. Seems quite odd. Everyone gets given a named midwife according to which GP they come from but they might not get booked in by that midwife, midwives don't work 9-5 so although they will nearly always (apart from when doing nights etc) be on for their own clinic they might not be on on the day that a woman's booking appointment is for. But the point is to have regular contact (your named midwife) but also to know other midwives in the area/from the team so that there a few people you feel comfortable with and a decent chance of being cared for by someone you know when in labour.

I sympathise, but she's entitled to a holiday like anyone else.

I do however think pregnant women should have the same midwife for all her checks, with the exception of being off due to being sick. Having the same one ensures continuity of care, actually caring for the patient, rather than seeing a number on a sheet. I know this is not possible in labour but for the months up to the labour it should be.

For my first 3 children I had the same midwife, I really felt like she cared. She remembered me when I saw her,i felt like I could be open about any emotional problems not just physical.

For my 4th child I was dismayed at having a different midwife for every single appointment. Apparently they were in the middle of recruiting, took a year to fill the post at least perhaps more since I no longer required the service so I'm not aware of that. They were lovely but to be honest I felt like a piece of cattle patient 004 lets do blood pressure, height,weight, prod belly chart it up, urine check ok off you go, next!it got to the point I'd skip appointments I just didn't care, because I felt like they never cared.

I wouldn't advise you to be stupid like me don't miss your appointments, ok you may not get the personal service but you still get the all important check up.

I was glad when the midwives left me alone with the baby to be honest I hate the home visits.

"I do however think pregnant women should have the same midwife for all her checks, with the exception of being off due to being sick."

Surely holidays too?

After all a midwife can have a large case load, not all the women on her caseload will be on the same schedule of visits. Appointments are based on best practice guidelines, not just randomly plucked out of thin air so on the one hand you have said that a MW is entitled to holidays but on the other you said that she needs to be there for every appointment for everyone on her caseload so when is she supposed to take her holiday?

Frannie - can I suggest you talk to your pharmacist, if you have any minor ailments and want to know what over-the-counter medicines you can take? They are very knowledgeable and will have been asked these questions many times before, so you will be able to get the reassurance you need.

I hope that the rest of your pregnancy goes smoothly - and that you get over this cold soon too (there is a really nasty one doing the rounds here, and I hope it's not that one that you've got).

Barbsta - I don't see that that's disgusting? You have had your appointments and you've had the normal things done. No, they don't weigh you (except most areas will weigh you at booking and some at about 36 weeks) and no they don't measure your bump at this point. I agree that it is nice when a particularly midwife routinely covers 'her' clinic and you get to know her, but it's not always possible and I hardly think it's 'disgusting' to have had two appointments and not seen your named midwife yet.

Indith - My community midwife has given me her work mobile too. It's hers, not a shared one. I was quite surprised too but apparently it is normal around here. She does warn that she only checks texts on her working days though, so you don't necessarily get an immediate reply and it isn't for urgent problems.

Barbsta - that sounds fine to me. By 20ish weeks you'll have had a couple of midwife appointments and a couple of scans. They don't measure your bump until the last trimester really, and they'll listen in on the baby then too. Most appointments are blood pressure, urine check and discuss any concerns. Your appointments will get more frequent (fortnightly) in the last few weeks.

I've seen 4 midwives this pregnancy. I think it's particularly sensible to meet the whole team as I am planning a homebirth so one or two of them will be at the birth. It was the same last pregnancy too. They have all your details plus your hand held notes so it isn't a problem.

You've been texting your midwife to tell her you've got a cold and can't sleep very well?!