Bloody midwife !!

[sissyspacek]

I am feeling very annoyed at new MW last pregnancy (different surgery very lovely Midwife) had pre-eclampsia failed induction and a c-section all abit drama drama, any way currently, 9 + with 2nd and I called the MW weeks ago and have been waiting for a call back no such luck, any way called surgery yesterday and they said they are very busy and would not have time to see me till after 12 weeks!! and that I would most prob have my first scan before i see them !! I am feeling that this is a bit slack as i had such complications last time, am I being silly??

TBH I don't really see why you would need to see anyone before 12 weeks, the problems you had aren't likely to effect you now at 9 weeks.

I think it is more or less the done thing now to not see anyone till 12 weeks, unless you have previous m/c history, or other health problems that could effect you in early pregnancy.

My experience was that I was seen at 12 weeks by mw and booked into hospital of choice by her and then went for a scan at the hospital at 12 weeks and only saw mw again at 17 weeks.

I think people are surprised by how little they are actually seen, when I was pregnant with my first it seems, looking back, that I was forever up and down from the midwives, but this time, I am now 29 weeks, and I have been seen 3 times, the first time was the booking appointment with the midwife at 12 weeks, then I went for a check up at 17 weeks, and the third was a diabetes test last week (at 28 weeks), not planning another trip down to the midwives for at least another 4 weeks if not more!

I saw mine to book in at 8 weeks, haven't seen her since (now 16 weeks!) Got appointment to see her a week on Monday though. Didn't see her much more than that with my other pgs either, and had the same mw both times then too. Like NJ said, if the start of your previous pg wasn't bad they'll assume that this one will be similar. You're not being silly though, I'd be concerned too if I had been through the dramatic ending you had!

I was told that due to having had pre-eclampsia I would be kept a close eye on next time, with more frequent visits et. SS, this doesn't sound right to me!

Sissy - It is correct !
There is no reason to book you earlier then 12 weeks.... too many women miscarry before that too.
The complication you had last time is not something they can do anything about at the moment anyway... you may well not have it again as it is mainly a disease of 1st pregnancy. And it woult no manifest itself for quite a while yet.
I am afraid the MW is correct.

This is what the BMJ says :

Referral in early pregnancy for specialist input
Women should be offered specialist input before 20 weeks if they have one of the criteria listed in box 3 (that's previous pre-eclampsia). Input may concern further specialist investigation, clarification of risk, or advice on early intervention or pharmacological treatment. We do not prescribe subsequent obstetric care, which will be determined on an individual basis and may be led by specialists, general practitioners, or midwives, or by shared care.
Recurrent pre-eclampsia occurs, on average, between zero and four weeks later than in the first pregnancy.

NICE recommends 7 visists for 2nd time mum and up to 10 for 1st time mum. It should all start at around 12 weeks.

11. What happens in the next pregnancy? Women who have suffered pre-eclampsia in a first pregnancy should be monitored more closely and more frequently than usual in subsequent pregnancies, since there is a risk that the condition will recur, although usually in a milder form. Nevertheless, most mothers who have suffered even the most severe form of the disease in a first pregnancy enjoy perfectly normal subsequent pregnancies.

Just because its a 2nd pregnancy it is still special and it sounds like you have some wounds to heal with what happened. The NHS have cut down even more on antenatal care which is terrible and 2nd time mums often deemed they need less as they have done it before. Grrr. Have you considered an Independent Midwife - you will get a much better level of care as they have more time for you and they do much more frequent visits that last an hour at a time.

I saw my midwife for booking in at 10 weeks, I wont see her again now until I am 20 weeks. I had my first child 18 years ago, and you were seen every 4 weeks from your first booking in. It has all changed so much now, I used to look forward to the appointments.

Would love a private midwife but live in deepest darkest somerset so not really an option, not even sure if you can get NCT classes this far down! I do feel a bit funny after last time and just want a bit of reassurance really, It would be nice to know some one was keeping an eye on us!

There are 6 independent midwifery practices in somerset: www.independentmidwives.org.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=Search&file=index&action=search&overview=1&active_stories=1&stories_cat[0]=2&bool=AND

Most travel 1 hour away too.....

It's pretty normal to be scanned first and then booked in with midwife at 13/14 weeks. The complications you had last time do warrant extra attention and monitoring but I would have thought that that was more appropriate in the second half of the pregnancy -- e.g. being seen every week or two weeks instead of every month. You're not likely to get pre-eclampsia before 12 weeks.

pupuce's link is here , by the way.

sissy - If it's any consolation, I'm in somerset too, 33 weeks pregnant and have managed to find some NCT classes. Not all the branches are active, tho, so I had to contact a few until I found something going on.

And - although I don't know if you are under the same health authority or not - I had a very similar story in that I found it incredibly hard to get them to listen to me at first (after a history of miscarriage, I really wanted an early scan, and ended up weeping down the phone to the hospital until they gave in). But once I was on their books, the care has been great.

Do try the NCT and see what they say - I'm going to NCT classes now and several couples drive 45 mins there each week but have said that they feel they benefit so much from each one (one said she learned more in the first 2 hour class than in the whole parentcraft course). Good luck