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Pregnancy

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

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Original poster

anyone being consultant lead or HAS BEEN? just need a bit of Help please.

50 replies

Rebecca1608 · 15/02/2015 10:13

Just over 20 weeks pregnant and I'm due to meet my consultant on Thursday for the first time. I'm really nervous as I'll be going on my own.

What will they want to speak to me about in my first appointment and how long will it last?!

Sorry if these are daft questions just hoping for some info. Thanks in advance.

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Original poster

Rebecca1608 · 16/02/2015 21:35

Maybe it is a better idea not to listen to GP then Too much. quite possible because I was waiting 40 mins in the waiting room and then I was due back in work so I was panicking about how long I was taking as every other time my mw has taken my bp it's lower than normal or spot on so maybe I worked myself up.

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dayslikethis · 16/02/2015 21:39

Sorry - that sounds really negative. I trusted my consultant completely and he was exactly the person I would have wanted had there been a problem, but I just didn't feel like he saw me as a whole person - just an incubator! Maybe that was a good thing though - I guess he was maybe like that because my pregnancy was relatively low risk and I was healthy - maybe he would have been more personable if I, or the babies, were actually in any danger.

After the twins were born one of them was in good health initially, but the other was taken straight from theatre to the NNU. It was NNU consultants after that though, so I guess he had signed off by that point and had no reason to see me again. I guess I just found it very different to my previous two experiences, where I had carried on with my community midwife after the birth for the first 10 days, and that continuity, even for just a week and a half, was very important.

Original poster

Rebecca1608 · 16/02/2015 21:40

Oh God dayslikethis, hopefully I'll get a nice consultant but I'll just see what he has to say If I'm not happy about something I'll definitely say, I just hope he won't undermine me. I know usually they know what's best but I hope he'll take everything into consideration. I think a lot of its my own fault it's hit me I've only got 16 weeks to go, read So many horror stories about babies who share a placenta and I just wanna make sure they're ok. I shouldn't stress.

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Original poster

Rebecca1608 · 16/02/2015 21:43

I'll be glad after Thursday when I know what he's like! :)

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LittleBairn · 16/02/2015 21:47

days whilst I would say my experience has been Postive I have faced the same issues as you with little though given to the birth, choices or just basic routine care.

Mostly because that is usually the midwives domain. The Drs at fetal medicine forgot about my anti d injection at 28 weeks (they would have forgot entirely if I hadn't mentioned it at 30 weeks!) but they did remember the steroid injections at 24 weeks.
It was actually the midwife who did the injection that has arranged for an extra consultants appointment so we can talk about having my cervical stitch being taken out and the birth.
If I was to do this pregnancy again I would have insisted on having proper midwives appointments too.

LittleBairn · 16/02/2015 21:52

Rebecca for what its worth I have disagreed with my dr about important issues but he's still been respectful of my choices and really friendly.
One of the worst Drs I've had, zero communication skills, is quite possibly the best surgeon in the hospital and it's down to her that I'm still pregnant at 31 weeks when at one point it was a struggle to get me to 24 weeks and I was never expected to go beyond 28.

dayslikethis · 16/02/2015 21:54

Crazy Bairn - they forgot about my anti-D too and I had to sit in the waiting room for over an hour after my appointment had finished before the midwife on duty had some free time to come a see to me. If I hadn't had 2 previous pregnancies I wouldn't have known to question it!

Original poster

Rebecca1608 · 16/02/2015 21:55

I'm glad things are going well for you and you've come further than they'd thought. I'm just excited and nervous and Thursday seems ages away. Once I've met him, I'm sure my worries will disappear. Well, hopefully.

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dayslikethis · 16/02/2015 21:56

Bairn that is so positive to hear! Wishing you all the best! I would definitely agree that the ones who are the best surgically or medically, are not generally the best for bedside manner! We found the same with the NNU docs too. The lack of people skills was annoying (although not so bad once I was referred to the consultant mw), but at the end of the day I'd rather that than a lack of medical expertise!

applecore0317 · 16/02/2015 21:58

This is making me wonder whether I should have some of my midwife appointments still... have also got to have anti d and was planning to mention it at my consultant appt on Wednesday and my whooping cough jab along with bloods... consultant also doesn't listen to the heartbeat. The internal scans don't show it, He sees it as a whole as long as the baby is moving then that satisfies him. He's a really good consultant though

yomellamoHelly · 16/02/2015 21:59

All 3 of mine were consultant led. Was just a case file to them and didn't ever see them in labour or after. Would not give it too much headspace tbh. Midwives did all the legwork including taking and recording all the info at consultant appts for them to sign off.

Original poster

Rebecca1608 · 16/02/2015 22:25

I'm feeling a bit more relaxed about it already as I know sort of what to expect now. I just get anxious and panicky really quick and with everything happening fast just needed a bit of advice or info.

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LittleBairn · 16/02/2015 22:28

days thankfully it was another mother who tipped me off about the anti-d but even I forgot too. Which is surprising as there has been some nervousness about my RH- status since in a previous pregnancy there was a leak between me and my baby.

apple I would make a midwives appointment, mine were happy to see me they just hadn't made any appointments because fetal hadn't passed my file along which the midwife said is a common problem.
Do you have an abdominal scan at the same time as your trans? Once I was around 24 weeks they started to play the sound of the heartbeat and check the blood flow during the abdominal scan.

applecore0317 · 16/02/2015 22:51

No have just had trans, have had four now, fifth one on Wednesday when I will be 26 weeks, will the do abdominal as well then?

He did say no need to bother with midwife appointments as they do the same checks but may see about keeping the odd one

unlucky83 · 16/02/2015 23:54

I'm Rh- so had anti D but I can't remember when!
I thought I have sounded ungrateful earlier here too - both my consultants were wonderful really ...just I had a really hard time - especially with DD1.
I have (or might have - long story) a preexisting blood clotting disorder (Antiphospholipid syndrome) that is often first - and sometimes only - detected in pregnancy. Still pretty rare but then it was really not well know about. As well as a potentially fatal risk to mother there is a risk of early miscarriage and late foetal death...with the right treatment and medication they can reduce the risks but people still do lose babies - but less now in more recent years as the treatments have been refined. (This was 15 yrs ago)

My first consultant had no prior experience - so consulted my old consultant - who just so happened to be the top consultant in the UK on pregnancy and APS. So I was being given the best treatment at the time...
But sometimes I felt he was more interested in the condition - or the fact he was treating someone with the condition - than me...he was extremely interested in all my symptoms -but I often got the feeling he was taking notes in case it all went wrong...for his research... (and to be fair outwith pregnancy I have had and felt similar)
My goal for DD1 was to get to 28 weeks - so if she had to be induced early (had stopped growing) she had a good chance of survival...I kept telling myself hope for the best, expect the worst. It would have been stressful anyway but I think the frequents scans etc made it worse...especially the one that was inaccurate (at about 35 weeks). To sum it up they have me down in my notes as being 'overly anxious' -5 days before her induction date - so a week before she due I was begging them hysterically to 'please, just get her out now while she is still alive'
And after seeing my consultant every week for months, the last time I saw him he had come to visit me and DD and on the ward I was still so off my head/exhausted I never thanked him ...just didn't twig I wasn't going to see him again...
My second consultant was much more laid back - (I actually test negative now but that is no guarantee of anything) and I argued with him about some things -and he took it seriously, listened to me and got a haemotologist to talk to me to 'put my mind at rest' - only the haemotologist agreed with me - he accepted that completely. And he also agreed to fewer scans than with DD1 because I felt they had contributed to my hysteria ... and I did thank him after ...
So both mine were good really - listened to me / got advice from other HCPs and I am extremely grateful for my lovely girls. Honestly reading that back now I don't know what the first consultant could have done except maybe recognise more that my mental state was important too... (although maybe I would have been even worse with fewer scans?) and maybe more importantly I was a person before a case...
Good Luck ..definitely feel free to ask whatever you want to and if you don't understand - ask them ...speak up and take notes with you - and take notes during if you think you need to ...and remember their no 1 priority is getting a healthy mother and babies at the end ...as it should be...

LittleBairn · 17/02/2015 17:05

apple I always had an abdominal scan just before my trans scan every visit I've had about 12 so far this pregnancy. I just stopped having them at 30 weeks. I will have one last abdominal scan at 34 weeks to check on the amnotic fluid and size of the baby.

unlucky that sounds like such a stressful time I can understand why you were anxious. I agree very little emotional support is given to women during high risk pregnancies that could really do with improving.

slightlyinsane · 18/02/2015 23:18

Hi Rebecca, I'm a little alarmed that you haven't had a consultant appointment yet. Are you in the UK? Have you been having regular scans? At the minimum you should be having fortnightly scans and a consultant appointment with that, this should have been happening from 14/16 wks.
Which hospital are you under?

Original poster

Rebecca1608 · 19/02/2015 08:03

Slightlyinsane I have Pm'd you. My local hospital is Ysbyty Gwynedd but I have to have my fortnightly scans in Glan Clwyd because YG "haven't got the facilities" I never see a consultant after those scans.

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Littlehopeful · 19/02/2015 12:28

I'm consultant lead due to low bp and very low Bmi I'm nervous too about my appt in a few weeks!

I feel guilty when I get nervous over these appointments

Original poster

Rebecca1608 · 19/02/2015 13:02

Same here but it's hard not to, it's a massive thing and once I've got todays appt out of the way I'm sure I'll have just been nervous about nothing but we'll see.

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unlucky83 · 19/02/2015 19:10

Hope it went well for you today Rebecca ...hopefully not as scary as you thought it would be...in fact not scary at all!

Original poster

Rebecca1608 · 19/02/2015 20:39

Went really well thankyou apart from having to correct the consultant lots of times because she kept saying my twins had a placenta each and a few other comments that she'd made. A planned c-section for me has been agreed :)

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AhDinnaeKen · 19/02/2015 22:54

Are you sure they don't have a placenta each which has fused together? I only say that because it is quite common and there can be confusion if you don't look closely enough at the scans - you can tell if there were two originally generally by seeing a small line where they have fused. It isn't always very clear though. I had DCDA twins, but by the time I had my 20 week scan there was just 1 single placenta and you could hardly see the join line - the consultant just had to go by the notes from my 12 weeks scan that said there were 2 originally. Perhaps your consultant had only seen 1 and hadn't realised there were 2 originally? (or maybe they just weren't concentrating!)

AhDinnaeKen · 19/02/2015 22:55

sorry - what I meant was maybe your consultant DID see a line (or thought she did) and was therefore referring to them as a placenta each as 2 fused together, still counts as 2 iyswim.

Jannywannywoohoo · 20/02/2015 01:21

I think being consultant led is a positive thing. I wouldn't worry, for sure mention your BP, they'll discuss all aspects of your pregnancy anyway, that's what they're there for. I think once you've seen them you'll be more reassured than anything. Good luck with the scan..... And enjoy it!

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